Fate Unborn Destiny
by xTheCouchOtakux
Summary: This story follows the adopted children of Emiya Shirou and Tohsaka Rin 10 years after Unlimited Blade Works as they find themselves drawn into a conspiracy involving the 6th Grail War. Heavy on original characters.
1. Fate

Chapter 1: Fa_e

"Wake up."

Said a familiar voice to the sleeping boy. He grumbled slightly, ignoring it completely. Waking up seemed like such a difficult task to perform in his state of fatigue.

"Wake up."

The voice was a little louder this time, but he chose to continue ignoring it...that was until a sharp pain spread across the back of his head. He had been hit, and hard. He collapsed out of the school desk that he had been dozing in and was sprawled out on the floor of the empty classroom.

"What the hell?" Was all he could say as he rubbed the back of his head in pain. Standing before him, a cool and collected expression plastered on her face, was his sister.

"Get up," her voice was calm and serene yet carried with it a sense of authority that only someone of her status would possess. She is Natsumi Emiya, the adopted daughter of the powerful magi Shirou Emiya and Rin Tohsaka. She is the beautiful yet harsh school idol, much like her mother was, and is also the star member of the school Kendo club, making her a very dangerous person indeed.

"Okay, jeez!" responded the boy. He collected himself and, with a sigh, he grabbed his bag and lazily slung it over his shoulder. He followed his sister's lead and they began the long walk home together. This is Hisashi Emiya, another adopted child of Shirou and Rin. Like his sister he is known around the entire school but for a different reason. He is infamous for being nothing more than a slacker, a reputation he seems to be very proud of.

Their mother and father were people they greatly admired, having adopted both of them and giving them a family they never had. Natsumi was the first to be adopted, she was found by Shirou in an alley all alone with nothing to eat or drink. Sometime later Hisashi was found by Shirou on the side of the road with no home or family and he too was taken in with open arms. Looking back on it, it had been 4 years since then for both of them. A great four years in their opinion.

They grew up hearing many stories of the Holy Grail War that their parent's participated in long ago, though Rin disapproved of their father telling them such things. Many nights were spent practicing magic and learning about the world of the magi. Of the two, however, it was Natsumi who was more learned in the magical arts. When he was 13 Hisashi's magic circuits had become incredibly unstable and simply channeling prana through them was dangerous not only to himself but to others. They bore with it though and they grew into a happy, closely knit family.

Recently, however, things have taken a turn for the worse. A few months ago Shirou had disappeared. Natsumi and Hisashi were shocked at his sudden disappearance, as any son or daughter should be. Their mother however, remained confident in his eventual return, barely showing even the slightest hint of concern.

"What time is it?"

"That is not important. We were supposed to be home an hour ago, mother is going to be displeased."

"Aw crap," just the very thought of his mother's anger was enough to send shiver's down Hisashi's spine. "It's okay, she'll forgive us. She always does...Right?"

"I sincerely doubt it. She forgave us the last two times you went and pulled this idiotic stunt. I do hope I am not blamed for your inability to stay awake during your classes."

"Hey! Cut me some slack! Hideo-sensei's lectures are about as interesting as watching paint dry."

"And your excuses are about as annoying as...Come to think of it I can't think of anything more annoying than you."

"Very funny."

"Now if you don't mind I would prefer that our walk was a little less noisy."

"Whatever you say," He was not going to provoke his sister's wrath, it was something he had seen before and it was also something he did not want to see again.

The rest of their walk continued in silence, just as his sister demanded, and all that could be heard between them were their footsteps and the occasional sigh from Hisashi. The silence continued until they finally arrived at their home, a large japanese complex that would make any man rub his eyes at it's appearance. According to their mother, it was the house that Shirou had lived in before they departed for the Mages Association. The two approached the doorway, opened it and walked inside.

"So," said a voice with a hint of irritation in it, "How long were you two planning on keeping me waiting?" Before them stood their mother, Rin. A young and beautiful woman who was currently the most frightening figure in the world to Hisashi.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it won't happen again! Please spa-"

"Our apologies mother. Hisashi fell asleep in class once more, forcing me to waste time waking him."

"How long did it take this time?" asked their mother with a smirk.

"An hour and a half."

"A lot quicker than the last time. Good job Natsumi," said Rin with a smile.

"Thank you mother."

"Now as for you Hisashi," she said so with an unamused glare in Hisashi's direction, "I want you to cook dinner while I teach your sister."

"Oh c'mon! Why can't _she_ cook dinner for once."

"You seem to be under the impression that you are in a position to argue with me," and with that the two went outside to his father's shed, leaving Hisashi to his work. Clicking his tongue he shuffled to the kitchen lazily. It was about an hour before Hisashi managed to finish cooking up a proper meal for his family.

However, his mother and sister still had not finished their daily training and he decided against interrupting them, mostly out of fear more than courtesy. He was about to go ahead and eat without them, until a strange feeling rippled throughout his body.

It was a feeling he had never experienced before. It was as if his very being was telling him to go to the front porch, however he did not know why. He tried his best to resist but he gave in to the unexplained temptation throbbing within him. He quickly made his way to the front door and upon opening it he was met by a frightening figure off in the distance.

No more than 5 yards away from him was a samurai clad in beautiful, white armor. At his side was a sheathed katana, it's scabbard black as night. His face was hidden by a mask and helmet, featureless, save for the moon shaped crest adorning his forehead. The armor on his left hand differed greatly from the rest. It was a blood red and decorated with thick plates and numerous spikes. Without so much as a warning the samurai began to walk towards Hisashi, his white armor barely making a sound as he moved.

"Stop right there," Hisashi heard his mother's voice resound from behind him. Turning around, he saw his mother calmly take her place between him and the samurai. In her right hand was a multitude of colorful jewels that he had never seen before.

"If you wish to keep your life then I suggest you stay where you are," stated Rin calmly.

"I apologize on behalf of my acquaintance." From behind the samurai emerged a figure dressed from head to toe in an ebony black dress suit. His hair was a discolored white and he wore a pair of glasses that shimmered in the light of the moon.

"Who are you?" asked Rin, her fingers wrapped tightly around the gems in her hand.

"I am Taro Tanaka and I am here to ask a simple question...Where is Emiya Shirou?"

"I haven't a clue. And even if I did know, why should I give you an answer?"

"Because if you do not then I will have Berserker kill you all one by one."


	2. The White Samurai

Chapter 2: The White Samurai

"Berserker? Are you telling me that your friend over there is a Servant...How interesting." Rin said so with a sense of obvious sarcasm in her voice.

"Don't play dumb with me Tohsaka!" exclaimed Tanaka, his face riddled with rage, "You and Emiya already knew about this!"

"Knew about what? I have no idea what you're talking about," she continued to smirk casually at Tanaka only serving to heighten his evident fury.

"Enough! Where is Emiya? I will not ask again!"

"I'm afraid you'll have to. I couldn't hear you over the wind."

After a brief moment of silence Tanaka broke into a wild fit of laughter as if Rin's taunts had shattered the man's sanity. His mad cackles echoed throughout the empty street in front of her and Hisashi. Pausing to catch his breath, he adjusted his slipping glasses and glared at Rin, a murderous intent in his eyes.

"You are nothing but a fool Tohsaka. And you and your family shall suffer for it!"

The white samurai rushed toward Rin and Hisashi, his hand firmly on the hilt of his blade. As he approached, the wind screeched, as if nature itself was afraid of the samurai's very presence.

With a flick of her wrist, one of the many jewels in Rin's hand flew straight into Berserker. The once silent night was interrupted by a cacophonous roar. Smoke and pieces of pavement replaced where Berserker once stood.

"Listen closely Hisashi," said Rin, her eyes focused on the plume of smoke where her foe once was, "I want you to run to the shed where your sister is."

"What? Are you serious? There's no way I am going to leave you here, I can help!"

"No you can't, not with your condition! Now stop arguing with me and help Natsumi!"

"But that thing is a monster!"

"I've seen worse." With that final statement Rin shoved her son to the doorway. Hisashi himself took one last worried glance at his mother and ran into the house, darting to the direction of the shed as quickly as he could. He ignored the sounds of battle taking place outside, he did his best to resist the temptation of helping his mother.

* * *

Rin gave a long sigh as she saw her son off into the house. She got him out of harm's way, now she could focus all of her attention on her opponent, Berserker. She was fully aware that there would be no way she could defeat a Servant, especially one she knows nothing about. Brushing away her doubts she gripped her handful of jewels firmly. She did not need to beat him, just to draw his attention away from her children.

She counted her gems, 3 left, how she used them from here on out would mean either life or death for not just her, but for her family. She had already wasted one on a distraction. She had purposefully aimed for the ground at Berserker's feet. The smoke from the explosion gave her more than enough time to secure her son's safety.

"Attempting to hide are we Tohsaka?" stated Tanaka through the vapor, "A cowardly strategy."

From the receding fumes emerged the white samurai, his once pristine armor now speckled with patches of soot and ash. And then, as if he were lightning, Berserker seemed to vanish like a phantom and in an instant he reappeared in Rin's vision. Gasping, Rin leaped backwards and away from the samurai. However, a gash slowly appeared across her right cheek and a small streak of blood flowed down from it. She didn't even see the blade touch her.

Landing on her feet she couldn't help but feel surprised, how was she still alive? That sword was well within the range needed to kill her, all it would take is one blow. She studied her opponent, his black blade held high in the air after it's strike had landed. A trickle of blood could be made out on it's tip. He was toying with her. If this was not a life or death situation she would have been insulted, but Rin decided to use this to her advantage.

With an immediate gesture she raised her left hand and fired her perfected Gandr shot. It's black form could barely be seen in the darkness and it's loud gun-like tone reverberated through the night. As she expected, the samurai dodged the myriad of shots with ease and she determined that now was the time to act. She flung her remaining gems at Berserker and in an instant the white samurai was engulfed in a large, destructive explosion. However, as the smoke cleared, the samurai was still locked in place, his armor intact save for his helmet. Rin could now make out the Servant's face, or what was left of it.

What had probably once been the face of a man was replaced with numerous scars, a number so great that Rin could barely look at it without being disgusted. His eyes were as black as an abyss and simply looking at them caused Rin to cringe. Then, without so much as a stir, the samurai bounded towards Rin. His black blade streaked across her abdomen at an incredible speed. Before she could even react to the blow, blood had begun to ebb from Rin's stomach. The wound was deep this time and the injury caused Rin to fall to her knees.

"I apologize if Berserker is taking his time killing you Tohsaka," said Tanaka, as he approached the bleeding woman, "He seems to love the sight of blood, I myself used to be quite disgusted by it." He paused momentarily and a sickening smile spread across his face, "But lately I have begun to enjoy it."

As Rin clenched her wound, she glanced up at the samurai, his blade raised high above his head to provide a finishing blow. However, before his midnight black sword could sever her neck, he halted. In that moment the samurai leaped onto the roof of her home and vanished into the dark.

"I knew you and Emiya were prepared to enter this war," said Tanaka, irritated, "It seems your children have summoned the Servant you were preparing. No matter, they will die at the hands of Berserker." Tanaka briskly walked into the house to follow Berserker, leaving her behind.

Rin attempted to get up, but her vision grew blurry and she slumped to the ground. She could do nothing but pray that her children would be alright.

* * *

Upon reaching the shed Hisashi threw open the doors in a hurry. Before him was his sister poised amidst a glowing red circle. Hisashi could tell that it was a form of summoning circle, he remembered hearing about them in his father's stories. Natsumi was concentrated on the circle and she began to recite an incantation, an object in her hand.

On closer inspection Hisashi recognized it as some sort of old, worn out book. The cover was of a dark brown and it looked to have no title whatsoever. Suddenly, a large quake shook through the ground, causing Natsumi to blunder and fall. The book slipped from her hands and was catapulted into the air.

In a panic, Hisashi jumped for the book and instantly his eyes were assaulted by the bright light that flared afterward. He landed onto the cold, hard ground, rolling for a few feet before he managed to collect himself. To his amazement the book had disappeared and so did the summoning circle. Something else had taken it's place.

It was none other than a young girl with long, raven hair that reached her knees. She was incredibly beautiful and looked to be no younger than Hisashi himself. Her dazzling eyes were of a bright and spectacular sapphire that seemed to light up the darkness of the shed. She wore a black uniform of sorts that covered her thin, stunning figure. On her forearms were silver gauntlets and across her back was strapped a straight sword inside of a sleek, dusky sheath. To Hisashi, she looked exactly like a ninja.

She took a quick look at Hisashi, her very gaze seemed to chill the air around him. Hisashi flinched a little, as if expecting the ravishing girl to simply kill him out of cold blood. Instead she turned to him and gracefully bowed.

"Who are you?" he asked, slowly getting up to meet her at eye level.

"I am Servant Archer. What would you have me do, Master?"


	3. The Beautiful Ninja

Chapter 3: The Beautiful Ninja

"Master?" said Hisashi with a hint of confusion.

"Yes, you are my Master am I correct?" asked Archer.

"Uhm," said Hisashi stuttering wildly, "I...mean, I don't think so. It was my sister who did most of the work." Hisashi looked over at Natsumi who stared at Archer with a sense of hidden awe, as if she could not believe that a Servant was standing right in front of her.

"That may be true but you are the one with the command spells, thus you are my Master," said the girl looking at Hisashi's hand.

Hisashi peered down at the back of his right hand and noticed that a large red symbol had materialized on it. It was split into three distinct pieces each one different from the last. He tried to remember what exactly they were but at the moment his mind was completely overtaken by panic. All he could think of was his mother, he had to save her.

Suddenly, a sleek blade pierced through the wall of the shed and carved a piece of it out like paper. There was the white samurai, Berserker. His helmet was destroyed and revealed the horribly scarred face of the man underneath. On his blade Hisashi could see fresh blood trickling down the beautiful silver katana and in an instant his fears were realized.

"What did you do to my mother?" yelled Hisashi.

Berserker simply looked at him, a cold, emotionless stare in his beetle black eyes.

"I..." said the samurai, his voice cold and raspy like that of a demon, "Made her suffer." In an instant the samurai closed on Hisashi with a single bound, the wind screamed as it made way for the vicious being that rushed through it.

Hisashi saw the blade fall upon him but it was instantly blocked by a pitch black sword. Archer had saved his life. Between him and certain death was the beautiful girl that he had summoned. Archer swiftly deflected the monster's blade and kicked the samurai square in the chest, sending Berserker reeling backwards through the entrance he had created.

"Get out of here," ordered Archer calmly, as if she were not engaged in a fight at all and she disappeared in a blur to pursue her opponent. Hisashi took a minute to register her command and quickly headed to the outside. He glanced at his sister who continued to stare off at nothing. Hisashi attempted to grab her hand only to have it quickly slapped away.

"What the hell? I'm trying to get you out of here!" his statement was ignored and Natsumi briskly walked outside. Hisashi, after rubbing his hand, followed after her.

Once he exited the shed he lost sight of Natsumi and not too far away from him was Tanaka and Berserker standing side by side, a unified force. In front of them stood the stalwart Archer, she was no more than 10 yards away from the duo and her black blade was firmly in her hand. Hisashi attempted to get closer but a quick glare from those blue eyes convinced him to go no further.

"So this is your Servant?" questioned Tanaka with great disappointment. He shook his head and chuckled to himself. "You are pitting this tiny girl against my blood hungry samurai? You must be joking."

"You men are all the same," remarked Archer, "Confident that your brute strength will save you."

"What else is there if not brute strength my dear girl?"

The girl said nothing and her sword seemed to turn into a swirling mass of shadow and in it's stead was a black sickle. On the end of the sickle's handle was a long chain, Hisashi determined it to be about 10 feet in length. The chain was a dull silver and on it's very last link was what seemed like a weighted ball. Hisashi recognized the weapon as a kusarigama, he remembered seeing them from numerous ninja movies he had watched as a child.

"What sorcery is this?" gasped Tanaka, his confidence drained.

Archer continued to remain silent and her reserved behavior seemed to irritate Tanaka. His brow twitched in rage and his eyes sparked with a violent fury.

Tanaka snapped his fingers and like an attack dog Berserker instantly converged upon the girl in black. Once again the wind screamed at the samurai's movements and his blade seemed to wound nature itself as he ran. The blood on the silver sword did not so much as move, as if it were attracted to the sword like metal to a magnet. His pitch black eyes that were once filled with nothing were now full of a lust for blood and gore.

However, before he could even get near Archer, he was struck in the chest by the weighted end of her chain. The impact was so great that it could be heard from even Hisashi's position, it was comparable to hearing a wrecking ball strike a wall of granite. The samurai stopped dead in his tracks and a stream of blood could be seen ebbing from his scarred lips. In a split second Archer withdrew her chain and lashed it out at the samurai in white a second time, the chain's weight arced from below and slammed into Berserker's lower jaw. The samurai is sent flying backwards and plummets into the ground, uplifting dirt and grass.

"What?" exclaimed Tanaka in surprise, "How is this possible?"

Hisashi was awestruck at Archer's ability to fend off Berserker with such little effort. He was sure that there was no way she could have won. Simply looking at the two combatants one would think Berserker had the advantage, he was imposing and looked to be a very strong opponent compared to the lithe Archer. However she managed to fend him off as if he were nothing more than a mere annoyance.

He glanced over at Tanaka and could see the panic in the man's eyes. Without a word Tanaka quickly fled into the darkness. Berserker rose from the ground showing not even a hint of irritation from his wounds and simply stared at Archer with his cold black eyes. In an instant he disappeared into the night to follow his master.

"That was amazing," was all Hisashi could say to Archer as her chained sickle changed back into a sword.

"It was nothing," replied Archer, approaching him as she sheathed her weapon.

Hisashi would have praised her further but his mind was far too focused on the safety of his mother. He ran to the house and quickly opened the door, only to have his mind put at ease.

"Good job," he saw his mother leaning on the shoulder of Natsumi. His eyes were automatically drawn to the horrific wound on her stomach.

"Mother! Are you alright? That damn bastard Tanaka, he'll pay for this!"

"It's alright Hisashi, the wound isn't fatal. There is something far more important we need to discuss."

It took about an hour for Natsumi and Hisashi to bandage the large wound on their mother and use the power of a gem to help ease her recovery. Afterward, they gathered around the dinner table, Hisashi seated himself in a chair in front of his mother and sister who sat side by side. Natsumi monitored Rin closely, probably to ensure that the wound did not trouble her further. Archer remained in the corner of the room propped up against the wall, her eyes closed as if she were asleep.

"Hisashi, I did not plan on getting you involved with this affair due to your condition. But it seems I have no choice now that you are Archer's master."

"What do you me-"

"Just shut up and listen Hisashi," snapped Natsumi coldly. Her usual cool demeanor was suddenly broken and replaced with great displeasure.

"Calm down Natsumi," scolded Rin. Natsumi nodded slowly in response.

Hisashi remained quiet. He was overwhelmed. What was he supposed to say at a time like this?

"Hisashi," continued Rin, "You remember those stories your father told you? The stories about the Holy Grail War and the battle between servants?"

"Ye...Yes," stuttered Hisashi.

"Do you remember what happened to the Holy Grail?"

"He said that Servant Saber destroyed it and that whatever remained was dismantled by the Mages' Association...Right?"

"That's correct," replied Rin, "Well, a few months ago your father and I received a letter from the Mages' Association. Someone had stolen the documents regarding the grail's destruction and subsequent dismantling."

"What does that mean?"

"With those documents and the information within them someone could very well recreate the grail for his own purposes. What he or she is trying to do I have no idea."

"So is that why dad left? To stop that thing from being remade?"

"Yes," said Rin, pausing for a moment. "He left to find the culprit behind the documents theft. He and I both know about the grail's inherent evil and it was the last thing we wanted brought back into this world. I, however, had the feeling that the grail's recreation would spark another Grail War, so I had Natsumi create a summoning circle so that we would be able to summon a servant of our own for protection. You becoming the master was something I did not expect however."

"Well, why don't we just transfer the command spells to Natsumi then? It's possible isn't it? She'd make a much better master than me. Hell, she knows a lot more about magic than I do."

"It's possible but with your condition the transfer of the spells could kill you. And that is something I would like to avoid." Rin gave Hisashi a bright smile as if to comfort the panicking boy. Rin looked over at Archer, "I apologize Archer, but I intend to destroy the grail at the end of this war and you probably will not get the wish you desire."

"I do whatever my Master commands and that is all. If it involves destroying my one chance at a wish then so be it," replied Archer flatly.

"As expected of a ninja. Good to hear that," said Rin with a small smile. She glanced over at Hisashi, and held his shaking hand. "Get some rest Hisashi, you'll need it to help clear your head. This was a lot to take in one night. We'll talk more about this tomorrow."

Hisashi nodded and got up from the table. He wanted to head towards his room, but he felt drawn to the patio where the battle had taken place. He sat down on the porch and looked at his right hand, the hand with the symbols. He was too distracted earlier to recall what they did but now he was fully reminded. They were command spells. They allowed him to command his Servant to do anything he desired and they also marked him as a Master of the Holy Grail War. A responsibility that he did not want. It was way too much for him to accomplish.

He snapped his head backwards as the sound of footsteps approached from behind. It was his sister Natsumi and she simply stared at Hisashi with a disdain in her eyes.

"Natsumi?" asked Hisashi meekly, "Is something wrong?"

Natsumi remained quiet, her cold eyes stared straight into Hisashi and pierced him like spears. Without a word she turned and headed back into the house, disappearing into the dark.

Hisashi turned his head to see Archer standing in front of him. Her beautiful face was only made more so by the brilliant moonlight.

"What do you think Archer?" he asked, "Do you think it would have been better if Natsumi summoned you instead of me?" Archer simply looked at Hisashi and without a word leaped onto the roof of his house, disappearing like a ghost.

Sighing heavily, he took one last look at the night sky and quietly walked to his room.


	4. The Silver Haired Beauty

Chapter 4: The Silver Haired Beauty

Hisashi's opening eyes were nearly blinded by the small stream of sunlight that poured in through his snow white curtains. Rising up from bed he gave a heavy sigh as he looked down at his right hand, the hand that bore the Command Spells. He felt more tired than a rising person should be. It was mostly in part due to his inability to sleep last night. What happened was far too much for him to take. He still couldn't believe that he was a Master in the Holy Grail War.

He rolled onto his side, lifted himself up...and then saw Archer.

"Holy crap!" he screamed, jumping from the bed, "What the hell?"

"It is my duty to watch over my master," responded Archer in her usual monotone.

"Well, yeah, but I don't think you need to stand over me while I sleep!"

"If it is a problem simply say so."

"A problem? Of course it's a problem! Do you know how awkward it is to have a girl standing around in your room watching you sleep?"

"No."

"Well it ain't pleasant I can tell you that!"

Without another word Archer stepped outside and into the hallway not even giving Hisashi so much as a second glance. Upon her departure Hisashi scratched his head with great irritation. It was going to take a while for him to get accustomed to this Master and Servant business.

After taking a quick bath and putting on his school uniform, Hisashi walked out into the dining room of his expansive home. His mother was up already. Something he did not expect. He was all too familiar with his mother's frightening mood during mornings, to see her so calm and collected this early in the day put Hisashi on edge.

"Good morning," stated Rin. She lifted a cup to her lips and took a sip before softly placing it down onto the table.

"Good morning." Hisashi looked around for a while before asking, "Where's Natsumi?"

"She left early today for kendo club" replied Rin, "Sit down, I made breakfast."

Hisashi's eyes widened with glee upon hearing that his mother had cooked breakfast. She seldom cooked, Hisashi himself could barely even recount the last time she did. However, when Rin did decide to cook, the meal was usually exquisite and tasted incredibly delicious. He jumped at the chance to indulge in such a meal and seated himself.

"Thank you for the meal," he exclaimed before digging in. It was as delicious as he expected it to be.

"Hisashi," said Rin, "How are you after last night? Berserker didn't manage to wound you did he?"

"Of course not, Archer's got my back after all. I should be the one whose worried. After all you were the one who got sliced up pretty bad by Berserker. Is it healing alright?"

"Yes, Natsumi used another gem this morning. The wound should be completely healed by tonight at the latest."

"That's good to hear," said Hisashi, relieved.

"Now on to more important matters," she gave Hisashi a commanding look, "You need to bring Archer with you to school."

"What?" asked Hisashi with surprise, "I can't do that! Dad didn't bring his Servant with him during his war what makes you think I would?"

"That is because your father was being difficult," said Rin harshly, "You, however, actually have a brain. Berserker's master already knows where we live it would be safe to assume he knows where you go to school as well. Anyway, with a steady supply of prana from you Archer should be able to properly hide herself from the view of your peers while you are there."

"But I don't even know if I can generate that much."

"Don't be silly, you have many circuits Hisashi, not even I have your number of circuits."

Rin spoke the truth. When Hisashi was found Rin herself was amazed at the number of circuits that the young boy possessed. However it was not the amount of prana he generated that was the problem, the boy generated incredible amounts of it every second. It was the horrible quality and stability that his circuits were in that prevented him from being a true mage. They were akin to powerful electrical cords that could power a whole city. The cords themselves had immense power. Now imagine the cords having a multitude of rips and tears. Although they generate a large amount of energy the horrible state of the cords would cause more harm than good.

This odd malady first developed in Hisashi when he was thirteen years of age. He had just learned the basics of magecraft during his childhood under the tutelage of his mother. One morning Hisashi attempted to practice channeling by placing his mana into a jewel just like his mother and sister. His body suddenly throbbed with pain and he began to bleed from his nose, eyes and even his own pores. His circuits then began to overload with pure prana and the resulting backlash almost tore the shed apart.

After the incident his mother and father forbade him from using magic in order to prevent it from happening again. Ever since, Hisashi has been living like a regular human, although he was learned in the basics of magecraft he could not do so ever again in fear of his body completely breaking down.

"Well, if you say so," replied Hisashi.

"If it bothers you master I can stay in spirit form for the entire day. I promise to not exit it unless you are in direct danger," spoke up Archer from behind Hisashi. He almost jumped out of his seat, he did not even know that she was in the room.

"That would be great Archer thank you," responded Rin with a nod.

"Hey! Don't I get any say in this?"

"No. Because I will force you to agree either way."

Hisashi sighed, "Fine, so long as she follows from a distance. I don't want her to be directly behind me...That's just awkward."

"As you wish," answered Archer, as she quickly disappeared into her spirit form.

After gulping down his meal Hisashi grabbed his bag, slung it over his shoulder and headed for the front door. "Goodbye," he yelled into the house, getting no response. He peered behind him, knowing full well that Archer was there, and strolled out into the street.

The walk was a long one and Hisashi honestly could not tell what time it was when he had first left the house. He decided to take a small break, even if he was late it wouldn't hurt him. He may be known as a slacker but he has never missed a day of school before. His mother would kill him if he did.

He decided to sit on a nearby bench and take a minute to collect himself. He lowered his head and stared at the sidewalk in deep thought about the war and what he was supposed to do. He wondered how that man Tanaka knew so much about his family, he had to talk to his mother about finding a new place to stay. Tanaka could come back at anytime and he wasn't going to risk him going after his family again. However, his thoughts were interrupted by a sing song voice that resonated in front of him.

"Hello there!"

Raising his head he saw a girl, roughly the same age as himself standing before him with a bright smile on her face. She wore a pure white coat that was incredibly lavish and stunning to behold and a small, fur hat was on her head. Her hair was of an elegant silver and it reached the small of her back in length. She stared curiously at him with her crimson red eyes. She was incredibly beautiful, probably one of the most beautiful girls Hisashi had ever seen.

"What were you looking at?" she asked curiously.

"I uh...Was looking...at...Uh." Hisashi had been caught off guard. What was he supposed to say?

"At what?" asked the pretty girl, a quirky expression on her face, "Oh I get it. You were looking at the sidewalk weren't you?"

"Well, kind of," replied Hisashi.

"Why? Is there something interesting on it?" the girl than seated herself next to Hisashi, an action which made him blush and she looked at the exact spot that he was a few seconds ago. "I don't see anything interesting here."

"That's because there isn't. I wasn't really looking at anything. I was just thinking."

"Thinking about what?"

"Y'know...Stuff."

"What stuff?"

"Okay, seriously, this is getting way too weird." Hisashi got up from the bench and began to pace in front of the unknown girl. "What do you want?"

"Nothing really." The girl's smile was so delightful that Hisashi expected tiny sparkles to start flying out of it. "You just looked like someone interesting."

"Me? Interesting?" said Hisashi with a laugh, "You've got the wrong person if your looking for-"

Hisashi cut out mid sentence as he had the odd feeling that someone was watching them, someone other than Archer. Turning to his right he noticed that there was a man not far from where they were. He was looking at both him and the girl with a stern and dutiful expression. The man was in his late twenties and he appeared both intimidating and handsome at the same time. His hair was a dark brown and it was slicked back, giving him a very professional appearance.

"Oh," said the girl, noticing where Hisashi was staring, "Don't mind him. He is just my escort, Verner."

"Escort? Are you someone famous? Like a pop idol or something?" Hisashi returned to his seat on the bench, still feeling uneasy about Verner's presence.

"No, not at all. My family is just very strict about my safety. They wanted me to bring him along during my visit here."

"Oh. You're a foreigner?"

"Yep. I came all the way from Germany."

"Wow, that's pretty cool. When did you guys arrive?" Hisashi smiled a little. He had met a few foreigners before but he had never met one as pretty or as lively as her. He found himself to be enjoying her company, although Verner's watchful eyes sent chills down his spine.

"I don't really remember," the girl looked over at Verner and delicately asked, "Verner! When did we arrive here?"

"Exactly two weeks ago," answered Verner. His voice smooth and imposing.

"Exactly two weeks ago," she said, repeating Verner's statement.

"You've been here for a while then haven't you? How are you liking it so far?"

"It's very nice here. If it weren't for Verner being so strict all the time I would have explored the entire city by now."

"Really? What's keeping you from just taking a stroll every now and then?"

"Well, you see, me and Verner have a lot of business to attend to while we are here."

"What kind of business?"

"It's a family mat-"

"Mistress," interrupted Verner, shaking his head in a disapproving gesture.

"Sorry," apologized the girl, hanging her head low. "I forgot."

"It's okay," said Hisashi, "You didn't need to tell me anything in the first place. It's none of my business after all."

The girl giggled and stood up from the bench in an eccentric fashion. "Well then," she said, "I must be off now we have a lot to do today."

"I'm sure," said Hisashi with a small laugh, "By the way," he said, before the girl disappeared into the street, "I didn't catch your name, I'm Emiya Hisashi."

The girl smiled and said, "I am Imizviel von Einzbern. It was nice to meet you Emiya-kun."

"Imizviel huh?" said Hisashi, "I'll remember it. If you want I could take you on a tour of the city sometime if you'd like."

"That would be nice," she said, "I'll take you up on that offer the next time I see you."

Imizviel and Verner continued down the street and Hisashi watched until they were completely out of sight. He got up from the bench and slung his bag across his shoulder. He hoped that he would be able to see her again.

"Einzbern," he whispered to himself, "Where have I heard that name before?"


	5. The Great Deceiver

**Disclaimer: **Fate/Stay Night and all of it's characters are the property of Type-Moon and do not belong to me in any way whatsoever.

**Author note: **Thanks for the positive feedback so far guys! Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 5: The Great Deceiver

The room seemed to be something not of this world. It was a wretched place filled with nothing but the air of death and decay. The walls themselves appeared to be rotting and patches of it looked like old, tattered flesh. In the center could be seen millions upon millions of disgusting creatures. They were worms. Horrible beasts that fed on the flesh thrown to them daily. In the center appeared to be a lump of decay and the worms surrounded and swarmed it as if it were a meal. However, it wasn't. If a normal man were to step into this room he would find himself driven to the brink of madness by the horror of what he is witness to.

Another war had begun. Indeed it was something that was not foreseen. However an opportunity like this should not be allowed to slip away. Leniency was what caused the last war to end in complete failure. This one, however, was going to run a very different course. A great many tools were prepared. Success was assured.

From the darkness emerged a figure dressed in rags of black. The features of his body were entirely hidden from view and all that could truly be seen was his skull white mask. It did not so much as move, as if he were a statue.

"What would you have me do?" echoed the mask's voice.

"Have you obtained enough information about the Emiya boy?"

"Yes. Nowhere will be safe for him now."

"Excellent, eliminate him. He must be rid of as soon as possible, along with his so called Servant."

"It will be done. What are we to do about the traitor?"

"Let him be, he will not get far. He is powerless and on the run. Even with that tool's protection he will not be able to power her for long."

"Very well."

The white mask then disappeared into the shadows, as if it were never there at all.

* * *

Hisashi had arrived at school thirty minutes late, something that did not go unnoticed by Fujimura-sensei. She was a good friend of his family's and she usually visited every once in a while to cause his father great annoyance. After receiving a firm scolding from her he was allowed to continue about his day. As predicted his perfect attendance was what saved him this time.

The rest of the day was as uneventful as always. He did not really have that many friends as his reputation as a slacker also branched into one of a delinquent. What can he say? He did already look like one. His dark brown hair was always messy and all over the place, and his uniform seemed to be constantly out of order. Just giving someone a glance with his dark brown eyes seemed to draw grunts of disgust or squeaks of fear.

It was his sister, Natsumi, that got most of the positive attention. A beautiful straight A student. Her shoulder length auburn hair always straightened to the point of ridiculousness and a uniform that was always orderly and clean. Her emerald green eyes commanded attention from everyone in the student body along with her slim, almost perfect figure drawing the gaze of every boy in the school. Not to mention she was one hell of an athlete.

Just thinking about it made Hisashi sigh with grief. If only he hadn't jumped for that book. Then it would be Natsumi worrying about this Holy Grail War junk and he would be free to go look around for Imizviel. Hopefully he wasn't killed before being able take her on that promised tour.

"Emiya!" Hisashi's thoughts were interrupted by the bellowing roar of his history teacher, Hideo.

"I'm sorry Hideo-sensei," apologized Hisashi.

"Sorry doesn't cut it Emiya! See me after class! We have to discuss your behavior."

"Uhm...okay," replied Hisashi, slowly. Something was wrong. Hideo-sensei was a boring teacher but he was never one to get angry. In fact Hideo-sensei was the calmest and most lenient teacher at the school. Something must have happened that caused him to be so furious.

By the end of Hideo-sensei's lecture the lunch period had finally begun. Hisashi slung his bag onto his desk and opened it. To his horror he realized that he did not pack himself a boxed lunch like he usually did. He must have been too caught up in the excitement of the Grail War that it must have slipped his mind. He slapped himself on the forehead and laid his head down onto his desk.

He turned to look out the window and found that his eyes were slowly closing. He shook his head, trying to shake the drowsiness off of him. Now was not the time to fall asleep. However in the end, due to a combination of fatigue, stress and boredom, Hisashi gave in and let slumber take him away.

* * *

The orange afternoon sunlight poured through the glass window. Hisashi's weary eyes opened to find out that the entire class was already gone. It appears that Natsumi didn't bother to wake him this time around. What was with her lately? First she slaps his hand when all he wanted to do was help her and then she gives him the silent treatment for all of last night.

He stood up from his desk as quickly as he could and decided to head back home. However, he remembered that Hideo-sensei requested that he see him after class. Hisashi sighed, more time to waste. His mother was not going to be happy. It was already pretty late in the day, though. Maybe Hideo-sensei already left. He decided to check the faculty room just in case, it was not far from where he was anyway. Better safe than sorry.

The hallway was quiet and completely empty, which was something rare for Hisashi. He had never slept this late into the day before, he expected clubs to still be going on and after school meetings being conducted. He shrugged the occurrence away. What did he know? He barely participated in anything at school let alone join a club.

Upon arriving at the faculty office Hisashi slowly opened the door careful not to make a sound. He was always extra polite when dealing with people of authority, he had his mother to thank for that.

The teacher's usual desks were empty and only a small number of papers could be seen here and there. In the corner was Hideo. He was a very unimposing man with a large belly and a thinning hair line. His glasses were off and Hisashi could not find them amongst the multitude of tables in the room. He straightened his usual formal wear and coughed in his hand upon seeing Hisashi.

"You wanted to see me Hideo-sensei?" asked Hisashi, wanting to get this over with.

"You're late Emiya!" Hideo-sensei replied, rubbing his head in irritation, "Sit right here!" Hideo pointed to a small chair close to him. Hisashi suddenly felt uneasy. What was Hideo-sensei doing? He never acted like this before. Hisashi himself should know, with his kind of behavior there were many times where he was called by Hideo-sensei into the faculty room. He obeyed however and proceeded to seat himself in the chair as was instructed.

"What did you want to talk to m-" Hisashi saw a glint of silver, a knife, and attempted to dodge it. A jolt of pain spread through his arm and looking down he noticed that Hideo had plunged a blurry silver blade into his left shoulder. He wanted to scream out but he was overtaken with surprise and horror.

A loud crash was heard from his right and he was quickly swept off his feet. It was none other than Archer. She had smashed through the glass and flew into the room. She had saved him again. She carried him in his arms as if he were a paper weight and kicked down the doors of the faculty room, breaking them off their hinges.

Hisashi looked down at his shoulder, the wound was large and blood smoothly flowed from it. Panicking, he tried to slow his breathing but to no avail. Archer swiftly ran down the hallway as quickly as she could, trying to get away from the assailant. However he was right on their tail.

On the walls Hisashi could see Hideo crawling on them like a spider, keeping pace with Archer. His arms and legs appeared elongated and stretched, a disgusting sight to behold. With a push of his legs he landed in front of Archer, blocking the path of escape. Archer placed Hisashi against the wall and took a position between her and Hideo.

Hisashi cursed himself under his breath. This entire situation was his fault. If only he hadn't fallen asleep. He would slap himself as hard as he could right now but the sensation in his fingertips were completely gone.

Hideo twitched slightly and his skin and clothing melted away like ice in a summer heat. In his place was a man cloaked with black rags. His body was completely hidden from view save for the white skull mask that lay underneath his hood. He was also unbelievably tall. From just a simple observation Hisashi could tell that he was easily seven and a half feet in height.

"Assassin," said Archer, drawing her sword. A whistling noise was heard, and from Assassin's cloak flew a multitude of daggers. In a single, smooth motion Archer blocked each of them with little effort, redirecting them into the walls around her. They were trapped. Hisashi was in no condition to run due to his blood loss and even if he could he would not get far with Assassin's daggers and speed.

"There is nowhere to run," said Assassin flatly. His voice greatly intimidated Hisashi. It sounded like the deep voice of a man, but at the same time he heard a woman speaking as if two voices were overlapping. From his cloak he drew two silver swords. However they did not look like swords at all. They looked like two constantly moving blurs that were attached to black hilts. Their exact length, shape and size could not be determined as the blurs themselves seemed to play tricks on Hisashi's eyes.

Archer stared at her opponent with great determination in her sapphire eyes. Her sword began to swirl into shadow like it did during her fight with Berserker, however it did not change shape and instead retained it's original form as a black sword. Archer's eyes widened in surprise.

"I have seen your blade before Archer," said Assassin with a disturbing chuckle. "It sees what kind of weapon your opponent is using and then it changes into something that has an advantage against it. A very versatile blade indeed. But it will do no good against me. My blades cannot be classified by your sword and thus it cannot counter it."

"That remains to be seen," said Archer, who quickly lunged at her foe.

She appeared to fly across the hallway and toward Assassin like a living missile. Her black blade cut through the air, making a singing noise. Her technique was without flaw but it was still blocked by Assassin's blurry weapon. He was no slouch. He jumped backwards in a feline maneuver and quickly catapulted himself towards Archer, striking out with both of his blades in the pattern of an X.

Archer's black sword blocked it and a shower of sparks ignited from their weapons. Assassin then withdrew again, jumping a good distance of eight feet from Archer.

Archer readied herself, her stance was solid as she faced her cloaked opponent. Then without warning a spurt of blood erupted from the top of her right shoulder. She gasped in pain as she grasped the bleeding shoulder with her hand.

"How?" was all Hisashi could bring himself to say. His voice was growing weak and soft.

"His blades move like water," said Archer, grasping her wounded shoulder, "If I block the blow it will simply flow around my defense."

"Very observant," stated Assassin. In an instant he jumped forward and lashed out with one of his blades. The strike began from the ground and was aimed at Archer's midsection, a blow that would cleave her in two if it connected. Archer narrowly parried the strike, but another jet of blood launched out from her thigh. She attempted to counterattack with a slash aimed at Assassin's neck but the blade failed to connect, however, as Assassin leaped away from harm.

Hisashi noticed that Archer's movements were getting slow. Her wound was beginning to effect her ability to fight back. Archer was a great warrior but even the greatest of warriors can submit to pain. Even so she straightened herself and prepared for the next attack, her determination unbreakable.

Assassin continued his relentless assault. After every attack he made he simply leaped backwards out of the range of Archer's counterattack. Each time Archer blocked a blow another wound would form on her delicate body. Hisashi knew Assassin was the one who had the upper hand in this battle. Archer could easily dodge the attacks that he was throwing at her, but she was far too busy defending him from harm.

Assassin knew this, which is why he continued his vicious pattern of attack. If she were to dodge one of the lunges it would leave Hisashi open to an assault. He was wearing her down and it would only be a matter of time before she died from her wounds. It was a well thought out plan, allowing Assassin to expend a minimal amount of energy to slowly destroy his opponent.

The clashing of their blades echoed throughout the hallway and sent sparks flying after each strike. Their blows were heavy and Hisashi found himself flinching after every attack. Archer did not move from where she was and continued to defend from Assassin's assault. It did not matter how much pain she endured, how many attacks she had to fend off, she would protect her master to her very last breath.

Soon enough, Archer's body was completely drenched in her own blood and her soft skin was decorated with a multitude of deep cuts and wounds. Her breathing was heavy, Hisashi knew that she would not be able to last any longer. Falling to her knees Archer tried to keep herself standing by using her sword as a support. The wounds on her thigh and ankles ebbed blood and stained the floor of the hallway in crimson.

Assassin said nothing and braced his legs for another lunge. Hisashi wanted to help, but his vision was getting blurry, his loss of blood was getting to him. However, he couldn't help her even if he wanted. He felt useless. Assassin quickly jumped forward, his blades ready to cleave Archer apart.

However, he was sent flying backwards, grunting loudly. Hisashi could see a tall warrior, clad entirely in dull silver armor standing between the wounded Archer and the repelled Assassin. His eyes could not make out his full appearance however, as his vision was becoming more and more blurry. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see a man looking back at him.

"You're going to be okay kid," said the man. His face was right in front of Hisashi, but he could not see him. "Crap he's lost a lot of blood. Hold that bastard back! I'm gonna get the kid out of here!"

"Can do boss," replied the warrior.

"Can...ou...ill...mo..." the voices around him were becoming distorted and Hisashi's eyes became completely clouded by darkness.


	6. A Familiar Ceiling and The Shadow

Chapter 6: A Familiar Ceiling/The Shadow

Hisashi's eyes opened to be greeted by a ceiling he knew very well. Looking around him he realized that he was back in his room, his sore body laid out on a soothing futon. He rolled in the comfortable blanket that covered him and lazily taking note of his surroundings. Nothing had changed, it was exactly the way it was before he had left that morning.

What happened to him? He tried to get up, but a numb tingle was felt throughout his left arm. He drew back his clean, white shirt and realized that there was a heavy linen bandage. Simply looking at it reminded him of what had transpired.

He and Archer were attacked by Assassin, who took the shape of one of his teachers Hideo-Sensei. Hisashi was stabbed through the shoulder and they were cornered. He thought they were dead, but in the last minute they were saved by faceless heroes. Recalling Archer's heavily wounded state, Hisashi quickly rolled out of the bed and hobbled his way over to the door as quickly as possible.

He did not need to go far, however. As soon as he opened the door there before him stood Archer. She looked as good as new, as if she didn't get into a fight at all. Hisashi couldn't help but note a small smile form on her resplendent face as she saw him.

"It is good to see that you are alright master," greeted Archer, relieved to see that Hisashi was alright.

"Good to see you too," replied Hisashi, smiling back at her, "Don't think you could hide that from me."

"Hiding what? I am hiding nothing."

"Yes you were. You were smiling," laughed Hisashi.

"I was not."

"Aw, Archer's too embarrassed to say that she was worried about me."

"If you are done with your childish remarks your mother is waiting for you in the dining room," snapped Archer plainly. Hisashi could make out the redness in her face, she really was embarrassed. The idea made him chuckle, this was the first time he had seen this side of Archer. He was used to her image of a monotone girl who always did what she was told, it was refreshing to see her in such an adorable light.

Following Archer's lead, he carefully navigated through the halls and made his way to the dining room. There he saw his mother dressed in her usual attire, or that is what his father called it, of a long sleeve, red button shirt and a dress skirt of the same color but of darker shade. Her dark black hair flowed down to her waist and over her shoulders. Her blue eyes lit up as she spotted him but she maintained her composure and took a sip from the cup of tea in front of her. Hisashi was always impressed by how her mother managed to maintain such a youthful appearance, for someone in their late twenties she didn't look a day over twenty one.

"How are you feeling Hisashi?" asked Rin, motioning for him to sit.

"I'm alright," he responded, "What happened to me?"

"We were attacked by Servant Assassin," answered Archer, "I did my best to protect you Master but I failed."

"Don't say such things Archer," said Rin, almost as if she were scolding the warrior in black, "You did a fine job."

"Well, I can remember that much but I also remember someone saving me," said Hisashi as he recalled a man that appeared before he blacked out. "Any idea who it was?"

"He called himself Kijiro Otsuzo and he was accompanied by his Servant, Rider. Rider had sensed Assassin and I during the battle. It was thanks to them that we arrived at the house in time to heal your wound," answered Archer, taking a seat at the table next to Rin. Her long black hair touched the floor and surrounded her like a makeshift blanket.

"Where are they now?" It seemed right for Hisashi to thank the men who had just saved his life.

"They left about two days ago," voiced Rin, "He was an investigator sent by the Association to reclaim the stolen documents. You are very lucky he was gracious enough to help you in your time of need."

"I know, a few more minutes and I would have be-," Hisashi paused for a minute, "Did you just say two days ago? How long was I out?"

"You were asleep for three days master," Archer affirmed in her usual monotone, "Your wound was deep and your mother spent a great deal of time healing you."

"Yes," said Rin, "It is completely healed now and you should have no trouble doing regular tasks, just try to take it easy."

"I will," replied Hisashi in awe. He looked at Archer. The last time he saw her she was completely drenched in blood and wounded from head to toe, now it was as if she hadn't gotten into a fight in the first place. "What about you Archer? Are you okay?"

Archer paused for a moment, surprised that Hisashi would ask her such a question.

"I am fine master," she replied, "We Servants tend to heal faster than the mage's who summon us."

"I can see that," he said with a smile, "It's good to know you're alright." He looked around the dining room. He noticed that his sister was nowhere in sight.

"Where's Natsumi?"

"She's in the shed," said Rin, taking another sip from her cup, "She's been blaming herself for what happened ever since you got back."

"Really? That doesn't seem like her. I figured Natsumi wouldn't give a damn."

"It would sure seemed like that at first," said Rin with a small smirk, "But she is your sister Hisashi, whether you are blood related or not does not matter. She cares about you just as much as every other member of this family."

"Well she's got a weird way of showing it."

"You should go talk to her, put her mind at ease," said Rin.

"Alright, if you say so," said Hisashi. Archer followed but Hisashi motioned for her to stop, "I think I should do this alone Archer."

"As you wish," stated the girl in black. She returned to her seat and began to pour herself a cup of tea.

"Oh, and try to go easy on her," said Rin, "I've yelled at her enough."

"Natsumi becoming worried about me? You getting mad at her? What have you done with my family?"

"Very funny."

Hisashi calmly walked through the expansive yard leading to the shed. Opening the door he saw Natsumi standing in the dark, looking up at the ceiling.

"Natsumi," whispered Hisashi, "It's me."

She turned her head and looked at him, her emerald eyes retained their everlasting calm. Without warning she ran towards Hisashi and embraced him in a hug that took him by surprise.

"Whoa," he said, "The last time you hugged me you had just blown up mother's bed with one of your gems."

"I'm sorry Hisashi," she said, trying not to break her usual air of tranquility but to no avail. It was only a matter of time before tears streamed down her eyes and she began to sob.

"You don't need to apologize," said Hisashi, "Besides, I got out of there alive didn't I? There's nothing to worry about."

"It's my fault! I let my jealously get the better of me and I just left you there." Hisashi was taken aback by her crying. For as long as he knew her Natsumi was always a calm and serene girl, never letting anything get to her and yet here she was sobbing as if she were a child again.

He patted his sister on the head and laughed. Deep inside Hisashi was happy that his sister hadn't woken him up, let alone had been there. Assassin probably would've attacked her as well and he would have been incapable of doing anything to help. He was useless, but he wasn't going to stand for it any longer.

"Natsumi," he said, looking her in the eye. He picked up a wooden sword not too far away and said, "I need you to teach me."

"Teach you what?" she wiped the tears from her eyes and gave Hisashi a quizzical look.

"I need you to teach me how to fight," he said, "The other day when me and Archer were attacked I couldn't do anything to help her. I felt useless. I can't be a spectator anymore, I can't let my inability to use magic stop me from helping the ones I love."

Natsumi smiled warmly at her brother, "I shall teach you. However we will start tomorrow morning, we should rest for tonight."

"Yes, Natsumi-sensei!" said Hisashi, saluting her. Natsumi simply shook her head and strolled back into the house. Hisashi couldn't help but smile himself. He was going to win this war. He was going to show his father, no, his entire family, what he was made of.

* * *

The midnight breeze was frigid enough to chill the flesh off of a man's body. There in the midst of the cold, dusky night stood a man in a leather jacket. A grizzled beard was on his sculpted face, reflecting the many years of his life. His left eye bore an eye patch, his right was an unnatural golden color and his cropped hair was of varying shades of brown and gray. He was propped up against a street lamp, and the light shined down on him as if it were a spotlight and he an actor on a stage.

He reached into his dark brown jacket and pulled out a cigarette along with a lighter. He placed the white stalk into his mouth and upon lighting it, slowly inhaled and exhaled. The gray fumes rose up into the black sky as he placed the lighter back into his pocket.

From the expansive gloom emerged a man that he knew well. His Servant, Rider. The warrior looked much like a young man in his early twenties. His features were soft and almost feminine in appearance. He had long blonde hair that reached his shoulders and his eyes were of a light silver blue. Upon his toned body were brilliant golden plates which covered his chest, shins and forearms. A form of studded skirt was around his midsection and he waved his hand at the smoking man.

"Rider," said the grizzled man, his voice gruff and commanding, "What do you have to report?"

"Nothing so far," said the young warrior, his voice smooth and innocent, a great contrast to his master. "Whoever is planning all this is one smart bastard."

"I'll agree with you on that one," the tip of his cigarette lit up in a vibrant orange as he inhaled. Suddenly, he began to cough violently. After slamming his chest repeatedly he managed to cause the hacking to subside.

"Geez, Kijiro," said Rider, laughing, "You need to lay off the smokes. By the time we catch this guy you're gonna fall down dead."

"This is no time to be laughing Rider," responded Kijiro, "We've been in this city for three weeks now and we haven't done anything remotely productive."

"That's not true. We did save that kid a few days back. That's productive right?"

"That is true. But now we have revealed ourselves to the other Master's. That battle hasn't gone unnoticed, I can feel it. Three Servants in one place, there was bound to have been one spectator."

"You're such a killjoy I swear. All you ever think about is work, work, work. You gotta loosen up once in a while boss. Ever since that battle I've been thinking about that Archer, she was some babe wasn't she?" Rider said so with a twinkle in his eye.

"Can you stop thinking about women for once in your life? We have a job to do."

"And that kid's mom," said Rider, ignoring Kijiro, "She was a good looking dish herself."

"Sometimes I wonder why I summoned you in the first place," said Kijiro with a sigh.

"Oh, cmon Kijiro lighten up," Rider patted his master on the back with a friendly smile, "I bet you've got a girl back home don't you?"

"Actually, I do."

"Kijiro you heart breaker, now all the ladies are gonna be sad that you're taken. What's the lucky girl's name?"

"Her name is Yamada Michiko. I met her a long time ago in the Clock Tower."

"How romantic," chuckled Rider, "So you pop the question yet?"

"I was actually thinking about doing that once I got back home. I've bought a ring and everything."

"Nice! Got a picture on you?"

"Yeah I do," Kijiro reached into his coat pocket and took out a small photo. He handed it to Rider, who took it from his Master's hand as carefully as he could. Upon the picture was a beautiful woman in her mid thirties. She wore scarlet lipstick on her soft lips and her black hair was tied up in a neat bun. She wore a lavish pink dress and beside her could be seen Kijiro. He was smiling brightly and his face was clean shaven, his eye patch still over his left eye.

"Wow, hard to believe a girl like that fell for a scary guy like you."

"Shut up," growled Kijiro, taking the picture back. He took one last glance at it before he placed it back into his jacket. "Actually, Rider I'm surprised you know so much about this time period. I didn't think they had marriages back in ancient Greece, or at least not in the same sense as we do."

"You'd be surprised what a man can learn from watching your so called T.V."

"What about you? Did you have anyone special back when you were alive?"

"I did," said Rider, "But I kind of died before we went anywhere with it."

"You talk about death as if it was nothing."

"You know what they say, death is just another adventure."

"Rider," said Kijiro with a smirk, "I honestly don't know how you go through life the way you do."

"Because I'm such a great gu-" Rider stopped in mid-sentence and he quickly disappeared into the dark, going into his spirit form.

Kijiro turned to look down the street and there appeared a small girl. She was sobbing, and tears flowed down her small face like a waterfall. She was in a tiny pink dress and her light brown hair was tied into a little ponytail.

"Excuse me," she said softly, "Have you seen my mommy and daddy? We were eating at this big restaurant downtown and I lost them." The girl's sobs echoed throughout the empty street.

"That's a good disguise Assassin," said Kijiro, throwing his cigarette to the ground. "But no family would take their daughter out for food at two in the morning."

"Hm," said the girl, her voice changing into one of nightmares. Kijiro could not actively describe it, but to him it sounded as if two people were speaking at once, one a man the other, a woman. "I will have to work on my performance next time."

"I thought you learned your lesson from the last time me and Rider defeated you," taunted Kijiro, his Servant materializing beside him in an instant. Rider was armed with a large and imposing sword in his right hand, and a round shield strapped to his left arm. On the shield was the symbol of a lion, a symbol that he had worn proudly in life.

"This time will be quite different...I promise you that." From the girl's small frame erupted three sleek blades aimed for Rider's chest. However, as soon as they neared him the three blades seemed to change their path of movement, choosing to go around the warrior instead of into him. The warrior laughed at the attacks.

"We've been over this already Assassin, there's nothing you can do against me." Rider chuckled at Assassin's attempts.

The small girl's body then began to contort and it appeared as if her bones were collapsing in on themselves. Disgusting cracks and crunches could be heard and the small girl's back ripped like paper. From the tear emerged a tall black figure, Assassin's true form. His sleek, rag covered body easily towered over his two opponents and numerous daggers continued to be flung from his midnight black cloak.

Rider simply strolled towards his opponent, the torrent of daggers continued to veer around him, as if they were avoiding contact with his flesh. In an instant, Assassin drew his blades, the blurs were virtually invisible in the cold dark, and he charged at his opponent.

He swung his rippling swords in a manic pattern, slashing wildly in various directions. But to no avail. His swords, swords that snaked around the defense of an opponent, avoided the golden warrior's body and his opponent remained unharmed. Rider swung his blade in retaliation, his golden sword whistled through the air. Assassin, leaped backwards, narrowly avoiding the blade aimed for his neck.

"You're a fast one," said Rider, staring down his opponent with a smirk.

"So are you...Achilles." Assassin's words sent shivers down Rider's spine.

"So, how'd you find out?" responded Rider, continuing to smile bravely. "I thought I was pretty good at hiding my own identity."

"Not good enough," quipped the skull faced wraith, "Strikes, blows and slashes move around you. It is as if Death itself is incapable of taking you from this world. Only one man has ever achieved an ability like that."

"Shame on me." Rider chuckled in a friendly manner.

"This is no time to be laughing Rider!" yelled Kijiro, "Hurry up and strike him down, he knows your identity!"

"There's nothing this guy can do against the Armor of Styx boss. I've got him handled." Rider said so with an air of calm. "None of his attacks will be strong enough to hurt me."

"He speaks the truth," announced Assassin, "None of my attacks will be strong enough to wound him...Which is why he will make an excellent weapon for me and my compatriots."

"What the hell are you talking about?" exclaimed Rider in confusion, "I've been called a weapon many times in my life. But I'm a weapon who fights for himself, who fights for what he believes in. What makes you think I will ever fight for you!"

Beside Assassin, from the pitch black abyss of shadow, appeared a living darkness. It's shape could not be described by any on the field of battle and the sight of it drove fear into Rider and Kijiro's hearts. They did not know what it was, but just the sight of it seemed to bring unrealized despair within them.

"You may be a weapon that fights for himself," said Assassin, a hollow laugh emanating from his unchanging face of bone white, "But soon you will be a weapon who fights for us."

"Like hell I'll be," said Rider, his sword began to glow a brilliant white and from underneath him came forth a dazzling golden chariot. Every detail of it shimmered in the night and it was drawn by two snow white lions, who roared into the blackness. "The Love of Thetis!"

His chariot glowed a bright yellow and he charged at the mass of shadow, yelling at the top of his lungs. The paws of the lions scorched the ground and left flame in their wake as they ran and their eyes glowed an amazing sapphire. Flames sparked from underneath the chariot's wheels and the wind howled like a wolf as he careened into his foe.

He collided with the dark shadow, but the result was something he did not expect. Instead of being vanquished by the power of his Noble Phantasm, the shadow began to spread all over him. He tried to cut down the ever growing darkness but he found himself being dragged into it, he was being devoured.

He looked towards his Master, Kijiro, a look of dread on the grizzled man's face. As the shadow dragged him further into itself he uttered one last word, "Run." He was soon swallowed into the abyss and disappeared from view.

Kijiro looked on in horror and dropped to his knees. That young warrior was not just his Servant. He was his friend. A friend who made him laugh even in the most trying of situations. Kijiro's fist slammed into the concrete repeatedly, until his own knuckles bled.

"What a pity," said Assassin, approaching him slowly.

Kijiro simply looked up at the skull white mask and spat. Red symbols began to appear and glow all over his body. They were runes, a specialty of his. He jolted upwards and smashed his fist into Assassin's mask, sending the cloaked assailant flying backwards and into the concrete.

"Get up you son of a bitch," Kijiro took up a fighting stance.

Assassin merely laughed and disappeared from view. In his place returned the shadow. Kijiro stared at it, intent to read it's every movement. But it did nothing but watch. In a split second it regurgitated something onto the floor, something that Kijiro did not recognize.

Slowly, the lump of darkness rose and in it's place was his old friend, Rider. But this was not Rider. It was something completely different. Cracked shadow littered his face and his once bright exuberant, silver eyes were replaced by dull and listless yellow. His once golden armor was now black and cracks of blood red could be seen upon it.

Kijiro did not wish to fight his friend, but he knew deep down in his heart, that this wasn't the Rider he knew. But at the same time he knew that if he did fight that there would be no victory. He knew Rider's abilities inside and out and there would be no possible way someone of his strength could win. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the picture of his wife, kissing it and holding it close to his heart.

"Make it quick...old friend." In an instant Rider's black sword streaked across his neck, severing his head from his body.


	7. Blood Red Coat

**A/N: **Just an FYI for anyone who read Chapter 6. Rin's appearance has been rewritten to match the one from the Heaven's Feel ending. While I was writing that chapter that look completely slipped my mind so I went along with her usual default outfit. Now that I have been enlightened it has been changed (^_^). I hope you enjoy this chapter!

* * *

Chapter 7: Blood Red Coat

The sleek, building was at least ten stories high and decorated with large glass windows lined up side to side on every floor. In the day, the building was pretty much transparent, allowing many to simply gaze into it at a moment's notice. It was half past midnight and the 6th floor was filled with a small group of thirteen office workers.

Many of them could be seen piling up various papers on their desks, while the others typed away on their computers. They all carried exhausted looks on their faces. They could not believe that they were still at work at a time like this. They had families to return to. Wives and husbands to kiss and children to tuck into bed. Little did they know, they would never see them again.

Across from them was a building under construction. It had been under construction for the past month or so and current progress was focused on the seventh story. At the very top, standing calmly on a thick horizontal, red construction beam, was a man. His hair was an unnatural white color and thick rimmed glasses adorned his pale skinned face. Beneath them his eyes were a dark brown, if one were to simply take a glance at them they would appear to be a pitch black. His name was Taro Tanaka, a vicious master of the unofficial 6th Grail War. Beside him was a samurai, Berserker. His armor, once a pristine white, was now diluted with multiple splash patterns of blood.

Tanaka looked down at the busy workers, who were now packing up their various belongings. They were leaving. Now was the time to act. He smiled and snapped his fingers. In an instant Berserker jumped from their perch and smashed through the large, glass office window. Transparent shards flew into the room as the office workers began to race for the exits in a panic, their eyes reflected the terror within them.

Berserker cut them down one by one, a gruesome sight to behold, his blade carved through them like a hot knife through butter. In mere seconds the many cubicles were stained with fresh blood and Berserker's white armor was now completely red in color. He held his silver sword aloft and the blood that blanketed the office seemed to whirl and move as if attracted to the sword. Droplets floated through the air and latched onto the sword like metal attracted to a magnet. A disgusting smile could be made out on Berserker's horribly scarred face and a hint of pleasure could be seen in his cold, black eyes.

Tanaka chuckled at the sight, but his laughter was cut short. Someone was behind him.

"Having fun are we?" asked a deep and confident voice. Tanaka hastily turned around. Across from him, standing on a beam opposite of his own, was a man he did not recognize. His hair was a bright, fiery orange and his hazel eyes emanated an intimidating amount of determination. His face was disciplined and reflected many years of irreplaceable experience. He wore a long, blood red coat that nearly touched the ground and underneath could be seen black vestments and dark boots. His body was athletically built, his muscle could be made out even under his coat, and he easily stood six feet in height.

"Of course I am," answered Tanaka, trying to hide away his unexplainable fear of this man. A bead of sweat dripped from his forehead as he tried to maintain his composure.

"Attacking the innocent simply to feed your Servant," said the mysterious man, under his breath, "How vile."

"So what if I am?" yelled Tanaka, his patience growing short, "What does a petty human want with a renowned man such as I?"

"You're more crazy than I thought," said the man with a sarcastic smirk, "You honestly think someone like you is renowned? A merciless killer?"

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Tanaka snapped his finger and in an instant Berserker appeared at his side. Although the samurai was covered in blood not a single drop trickled from his large body.

"I am Emiya Shirou, simple as that." The man's answer drove a state of complete hysteria into Tanaka, who grasped his head and began to laugh wildly.

"Emiya Shirou? Finally! I've been looking for you!"

"Really? Why would you be looking for me?"

"Because you are the one who achieved victory in the last war am I correct? Surely you would be generous enough to give me a few pointers as to how I get my wish?"

"Sorry but last time I was here, I destroyed the Grail, and I plan on doing so again this time."

"What? You must be joking!"

"Does it look like I'm joking?"

"You bastard! Do you not understand what the Grail is capable of?"

"Yes, I do, but you seem to be under the impression that I care. I am here because of one reason and one reason only."

"And what reason would that be? Hmm? Emiya boy?

"You attacked my family. And now, you will pay."

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" yelled Tanaka repeatedly, going so far as to start punching his own head. "You die now!"

Berserker rushed towards Shirou, his blood stained body shot forth like a bullet, invisible to the naked eye as he cleared the distance between himself and his target. Shirou stood his ground, his air of confidence immovable. Berserker's blade descended upon his chest but was stopped in it's tracks by something Tanaka did not expect.

Barring the way to Shirou was a small girl, her elegant blonde hair tied into a bun. The moonlight bounced off her silver armor and bestowed a brilliant shine to her emerald green eyes. In her hand appeared to be an invisible sword, and even with her small stature she matched the vicious Berserker in strength. She lashed out at her enemy in quick succession, causing the bloody samurai to retreat back to his Master's side. The girl stood at the ready, standing between her opponents and her master, a look of sheer intensity was written on her fair face.

"What?" yelled Tanaka, "Who the hell is this?"

"This is an old friend of mine, Saber," answered Shirou.

"Servant Saber?" Tanaka's surprise quickly turned into a hysterical fit of laughter, "Excellent. She will prolong the battle, I would've hated for you to die so quickly!"

"Be still murderer," snapped Saber, "Your actions will not go unpunished!"

"And I suppose you will be the one to punish me? What a joke! Destroy her Berserker!"

The two warriors lunged towards one another and their blades clashed, sending clamorous roars throughout the night sky. Saber's small body found it easy to maneuver in the construction site's web of steel while Berserker's large mass had difficulty traversing in such terrain. With this advantage Saber easily pushed back her opponent, forcing him to fight an uphill battle.

In a random, unforeseen attack, Berserker jumped a staggering fifteen feet into the air and brought his blade down upon Saber with the force of a comet. Saber blocked it head on, the collision of their swords roared like an explosion from a bomb, and the metal beam beneath them bended from the sheer strength of the impact. With a grunt, Saber pushed away the large samurai, a metallic din resounded from her invisible weapon as she sent her opponent flying into the office building opposite from where they were battling.

A streak of wind followed the samurai as he smashed into the building with a thunderous collision. The numerous glass windows of the establishment shattered and the side of the building itself caved in. Berserker rose from the pile of splintered wood and glass, a broken smile could be seen upon his maimed face as he picked up his blade.

Standing up, Berserker lifted a heavy desk off of the ground and flung it in Saber's direction. His strength was so great that the desk itself flew through the air like a bullet. With a flick of the wrist, the desk was cut in two by a slash from Saber's unseen weapon.

Berserker's arms flailed fiercely as he grabbed and threw more of his makeshift projectiles at the small, blonde girl. Be it desk, lamp, table or chair, anything was a weapon at the moment but Saber's invisible blade cut through each one like paper. After a few brief minutes, Berserker halted his onslaught, his supply of projectiles spent he charged at Saber, clearing the large gap between the office and the construction site with a single bound. Saber counter charged and leaped across the chasm, propelling herself towards the red samurai.

Their blades connected in midair and sent a shock wave into the nearby buildings, shattering glass and tilting the furniture within. The two warrior's blades were locked in a midair confrontation as they glared at each other with an unworldly intensity.

Berserker, creating a wide arc with his blood stained sword, threw Saber into the web of steel that was the construction site. Saber expertly shifted her weight and caught herself on a steel support beam. Pushing herself off using all of her strength, she launched herself like a missile back towards Berserker, the steel beam bending as she did so. Berserker blocked her strike, narrowly avoiding getting split in half, but the result of the midair collision sent the two of them tumbling into the empty office building.

Berserker was flung through a bathroom wall, wrecking the neat and shiny porcelain but Saber managed to halt her tumble, her armored feet dug into the carpeting, uplifting it like dirt as she slid. Berserker grabbed his blade off the tiled floor and charged through what was left of the wall and straight into Saber. The hammering of their blades lit up the darkness of the office and gave them the appearance of living stars.

Berserker continued his onslaught of blows, recklessly flailing his blade towards Saber in a manic dance of death. Saber blocked each consecutive strike, her brow furrowed as each attack seemed to be stronger than the last. In a split second she spotted an opening and took it without hesitation. Berserker lifted his blade over his head and with one quick, vertical slash Saber split open the red samurai's stomach. Dark blood flowed from his wound but his attacks did not cease. Saber's eyes widened with surprise as she barely managed to avoid a fatal strike to her neck.

There was a pause in battle. Saber breathed heavily, the fight was going on longer than she had expected it to. Berserker's head tilted and he took a look at the deep wound that Saber had inflicted. A wound so deep that his various organs could be seen pushing their way out of the neatly cleaved flesh. He calmly poked them back into place as a wicked smile spread on his horrendous face.

"This...feels...good," he said. A disgusted and terrified tingle spread throughout Saber's body. She had delivered a wound that would be considered fatal to even the most powerful of Servants. How was this one still standing after a strike like that?

Without warning, Berserker threw himself upon Saber again, thrashing out with his blade over and over. The wind howled in agony as his blade was swung and the building itself seemed to shake as the two brawled.

"Surprised are you Emiya?" said Tanaka proudly. He and Shirou had been left on their respective beams, watching the battle from a safe vantage point. "You should be. Berserker is quite the specimen. Would you care to know who he is?"

"That's nice of you, but I already know," answered Shirou, with a confident smile.

"You've done your homework I see," mocked Tanaka, "Then you must understand why Saber will not win then." He spread his arms out in celebration as he began to laugh maniacally, "Pain means nothing to him! There is nothing your precious Saber can do!"

"But there is something I can do," stated Shirou. Glowing red orbs appeared in his hand, quickly forming into two separate curved, short swords. One was a pristine, snow white and the other black with what appeared to be a grid like pattern etched upon it. "Your Servant isn't here to protect you now."

Tanaka's eyes widened and his lips began to quiver with complete and utter terror.

"Berserker!" he yelled into the night, his voice a high pitched wail, "Save me!" The red samurai's head perked up and he disengaged the silver knight as he jumped back to his Master's side. Tanaka pointed a shivering finger in Shirou's direction, "Kill him! Hurry! Don't let him hurt me Berserker!"

The samurai obeyed without a word and he charged at Shirou, his sword at his side. His blade arced towards the man in the red cloak but quickly halted as he heard yet another squeal from Tanaka.

"Return Berserker! Forget about him! Saber is coming back!" Not far from Tanaka was Saber, whose blade was prepared to strike down the trembling man. Berserker quickly rushed to the aid of his master, blocking the blow Saber had intended for him. However, Shirou quickly moved in and in one swift movement he slashed an X pattern into the back of Berserker. As Berserker turned to meet his foe he was struck in the back again, this time by Saber's invisible sword.

Tanaka squirmed farther away from the battle, hugging the steel beam like a lost child, and was witness to his own Servant being butchered by the pair that was Shirou and Saber. Berserker, realizing his dilemma, quickly withdrew to his Master's side. Although many cuts were littering his body, the Servant appeared unfazed and stood as vigilant as ever.

"Berserker may not feel pain," said Shirou confidently, "But just like any other Servant, if I cut him enough, he'll fall down and die."

"Berserker! Retreat!" Tanaka squeaked in fear. Berserker grabbed his master in one arm and with the other cut down the beams of the construction site as he jumped away. The large web of metal began to sway and Shirou and Saber were forced to retreat into the building opposite of them, expertly jumping the large distance. The entire floor collapsed on itself as a choir of metallic clangs echoed throughout the night.

The two watched the debacle with a relieved expression on their faces. Only the seventh floor had collapsed. If the entire building had fallen the damage could have been far more severe than they would have liked.

"Shirou, was he the one?" queried Saber.

"No," answered Shirou, looking up at the sky, "It couldn't have been him. He is far too unstable and he doesn't seem like the type who would steal from the Association, even if it did mean a wish. He's just a man who wanted to take advantage of the situation."

"He did not seem to be a very capable magus either."

"That only shows that he would have been incapable of recreating the Grail in the first place. It would take someone of incredible talent to recreate the Grail with nothing but a set of documents."

"We could have stopped him right here," Shirou walked over the the butchered bodies of the office workers and sighed,"To let someone like him continue doing this, is just despicable."

"It is alright Shirou," said Saber, comforting her master, "We will end this war."

Shirou looked away from the dead bodies and into the empty streets, "We have one last lead on who did this then. The Einzbern's."

"Where do you think they are?"

"The old manor in the forest was burned down a long time ago so they could be anywhere in this city." Shirou's fist began to shake, a detail Saber noticed quickly.

"What is wrong Shirou?"

"I am scared Saber. Not for myself, but for my family. Here I am, running around the city at night when I should be protecting them."

"Your family?"

"That's right, we've been so busy with this war, that I never really told you about them did I? If we have the time, you should meet them Saber."

"I suppose you married Rin then am I correct?" asked Saber, a knowing smile on her face.

"Yes," said Shirou with a chuckle, "Funny thing is people in the Mage's Association still have the habit of calling her Tohsaka. I guess Emiya Rin doesn't sound very good to their ears."

"How is she? It has been quite a while since I had last seen her."

"The same as she always was. Beautiful, smart, angry and lazy."

"You make it sound as if she hasn't changed at all in the past ten years," stated Saber as she walked over to her master's side.

"You know what they say. Some people never change."

"But you, on the other hand, have changed quite a bit Shirou. You look, act and even dress exactly like he did."

"Don't say that Saber," laughed Shirou, rubbing his head in embarrassment, "It's true I might look like him. But act like him? No way." Shirou's thoughts returned to what had happened many years ago. He had met a man that, at first, he hated and despised. However, in the end, that same man turned into someone he grew to respect.

"Will your family be alright with a man like Tanaka on the loose? You said so yourself that he had attacked them before."

"We've wounded Berserker enough tonight. He won't be able to attack anyone any time soon. Besides, the Archer my son summoned is a pretty good fighter. I place my faith in her abilities."

"We should get moving then. The sooner we clarify the Einzbern's role in all of this the sooner you can secure the safety of your family." Saber smiled warmly, "I am sure Rin will be delighted to see you again."

"Sounds like a plan," replied Shirou, with a smile, "I'm sure Rin will be delighted to see you again too, Saber."


	8. Ballad of Betrayal

**A/N:** Sorry if this one took a while to get up guys. Had a little technical difficulties on my end. Oh and thank you for the critique Romanesque. As we all know, you can't get better without constructive criticism haha. Anyways enjoy the chapter guys!

* * *

Chapter 8: The Ballad of Betrayal

Hisashi walked into the dining room, his body sore from having recently awoken from a deep, uncomfortable slumber. He rubbed his drowsy eyes and sat at the empty table, his legs crossed and his hand rubbing his forehead. In a few seconds his mother entered the room, her hand was covering her face and she exuded almost inaudible grunts from her mouth. His mother was never a morning person and the act of waking up was usually enough to draw forth a great deal of her rage.

"Good morn-" his greeting was cut short when Rin shot an irritable glower in his direction.

"Breakfast," she ordered, dropping down into her seat. Hisashi nodded, almost tripping on himself, and he proceeded into the kitchen. He heard the flicker of a television being turned on as he took out the necessary utensils. He craned his head to look into the dining room. His mother was quietly watching TV.

It took him a full hour to finish cooking the meal he had intended for himself, Rin, Natsumi and Archer. He prepared a large sum of food and had even fixed up a full pot of tea. He couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement course through his body. Today was the day he was going to train with Natsumi. He was going to become someone of use, someone who would have the strength to save his family and friends when the time comes.

As if on cue, Natsumi entered the room, Archer following behind her. She stroked her auburn hair and skipped over to Hisashi, giving him a warm hug. Hisashi was taken back. That was completely unexpected. Was she really that guilty about what had happened?

Archer simply seated herself at the dining table, not a single word leaving her mouth. She nodded towards Rin, who nodded back politely.

"Are you prepared to start training today?" asked Natsumi with a bright smile.

"Of course," replied Hisashi as he grabbed a few plates of food in his arms. He walked towards the table, placed the plates in an orderly fashion and headed back into the kitchen to retrieve the tea.

"Excellent," proclaimed Natsumi, "Have any ideas on where we could practice?" She tilted her head in curiosity and she rubbed her chin in deep thought.

"We have a dojo here Natsumi," said Hisashi with surprise, "I figured you of all people would know that."

"Oh," she said, realizing her mistake, "Sorry, completely slipped my mind."

"How could you even forget?"

"Sorry," Natsumi gave him a playful smile, "I was so worried about you that I just couldn't think straight."

"Geez. You're acting really weird. You don't need to play nice just because of what happened at the school." After placing down the white, porcelain teapot, Hisashi quickly began to eat. He was unusually hungry today. It was probably the giant bubble of excitement building within him.

"It's her own way of apologizing," said Rin, her morning anger dissipating as she ate, "Isn't that right Natsumi?"

"Yeah," perked Natsumi, "You don't need to be so mean Hisashi!"

"What? I didn't even say anything remotely mean!"

"I would like to observe this training session of yours," spoke up Archer, interrupting the two's bickering, "If you do not mind."

"That would be great," responded Hisashi, "You are a warrior after all, it would be awesome if you could give me a few pointers during practice." Natsumi, however, seemed to be against it. Her eyes narrowed as she shot a glare at Archer.

"I would like me and my brother to have some privacy while we train," she stated, almost commanding Archer.

"That is not for you to decide," replied Archer, returning the glare.

"Calm down guys," said Hisashi, "I'm sure there is so-"

"Quiet," interrupted Rin, pointing to the television.

On the screen was a news reporter. The wrinkles on his old face contorted into a grim expression and he rubbed his hand through his balding hair line. He picked up a multitude of papers in his hand and, after sifting through them, began to speak.

"This morning at eight o'clock, thirteen employees of Kimura industries were found dead on the sixth floor of the company's corporate building. Their bodies were mutilated beyond recognition and local detectives are currently attempting to find any evidence that could help them find the culprit. The only lead they currently possess is that the murders had been performed with a bladed weapon."

Hisashi rose from the table, his fists clenched in rage. Thirteen people. All dead. The reporter said it was caused by a bladed weapon. Which would mean it was the work of a Master and Servant. His body boiled with anger.

"What?" exclaimed Hisashi, apalled

"It is the work of a Master," said Rin, "No doubt about it." Her blue eyes did not move from the television screen.

"What kind of sick bastard would kill thirteen people!"

"You would be surprised what some Master's are willing to do to win this war Hisashi," said Rin.

"How can you be so calm about this?" yelled Hisashi, "How can any of you be calm?" He shot furious glances at everyone around him, almost disgusted by how they were taking in the situation.

"I am far from calm, Hisashi," replied Rin, her blue eyes staring straight into him, "I am just as disgusted as you. But we can do nothing at the moment. We have no idea who is behind this attack, we cannot look for the culprit when we do not know who the culprit is."

Hisashi remained silent. He was outraged. He knew that his father would not have allowed such a thing to happen. His father would not let innocent people die for nothing. He rose from the table and headed towards the hallway. He was tired of being unable to do anything but watch. He would have to set aside his training with Natsumi for another date. Now was the time for him to act.

"Where are you going?" asked Rin.

"He won't hide from me," said Hisashi, his fists clenched, "He'll pay for what he's done." He looked over at Archer and gave a nod in her direction, signaling to her that it was time to move out. Archer shook her head in response.

"I will not go on a mission with you in a state like this," said Archer, undoubtedly.

"What are you talking about?" asked Hisashi.

"You are emotionally compromised," replied Archer, her cold azure eyes stared into him, "This mission requires that we maintain a calm state of mind Hisashi. We cannot afford to rush into things."

"How can you say that?" yelled Hisashi, "People have just been killed! Who knows? Maybe that same Master will strike again!"

"People are killed every day," said Archer coldly, "Some deserve it and some do not. It is our job to not let their deaths effect us. If we do, we will end up just like them. I do not want my life extinguished simply because you were unable to keep a level head."

"You want me to keep a level head? You want me to be just like you? A cold unfeeling shell of a person?" Hisashi beamed angrily at Archer. His eyes overflowed with rage.

Archer remained still. Her face immutable as she returned Hisashi's stare with one of her own.

"It is what I do to ensure that the mission is a success. My emotions, my feelings, do not matter. So long as-"

"So long as the mission is a success?" interrupted Hisashi.

"Correct."

"Is that all you can think about Archer? The so called mission? Is there nothing else but the mission?"

"No, there is not," answered Archer without hesitation.

"And what about those people? Those people that just got butchered? Did they mean nothing to you?"

"No, they did not."

"But you're supposed to be some kind of epic hero, right? Isn't a hero supposed to care? Isn't a hero supposed to protect the innocent and prevent these things from happening? What kind of hero are you?"

"I was no hero, Hisashi, and I doubt that I ever will be."

"Then what were you? Enlighten us!"

"I was nothing more than a killer."

"You're hopeless. I doubt you even know what it's like."

"What are you talking about?"

"You don't know what it's like to care for someone. To harbor feelings for people other than yourself. Hell, I doubt you even give a damn about yourself. You talk about this mission bull crap as if it's the only thing you have in this damn world. And if it is, then I pity you."

With that Hisashi stormed out of the dining room and the audible slam of the front door could be heard resonating throughout the house. Archer stood still and Rin herself remained in silence.

"You should catch him before he goes too far," voiced Rin, "Hisashi has a lot on his mind. Forgive him for his outburst." Rin herself felt the need to stop her son, but she knew deep down that no matter how hard she tried he would not listen. It was a trait that he shared with his father.

"It is I who should apologize," said Archer, "But...he is wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"I do know what it is like to care for someone." In an instant Archer disappeared into her spirit form and her presence vanished from the room. The only two that remained were Natsumi and Rin.

Natsumi rose from the table and began to make way for the hall, but she was stopped in her tracks by the voice of Rin.

"You're not going anywhere Natsumi," commanded Rin, gesturing for Natsumi to sit back down.

"Why mother?" she asked, "I want to help Hisashi. He needs me right now." A small smile was on her beautiful face, it was as if everything that had just happened did not effect her in the slightest.

"Do you want to help Hisashi? Or kill him?"

Natsumi began to giggle, "What are you talking about mother?"

"Stop trying to salvage what little charm you have left in your act. It worn out it's welcome...Assassin."

"Very well," said Natsumi, her voice converted into one of nightmares. She sat down at the table and her green eyes transposed into a pitch black color. "What gave me away?"

"Everything. Your posture is loose, Natsumi is rigid and firm. You speak informally, Natsumi is always formal. You didn't know where the dojo was in this house. And you hugged Hisashi. Natsumi would never hug Hisashi."

"I figured there were some flaws in my act," said Assassin, pouring himself a cup of tea. "I'm surprised you didn't reveal me sooner. I have been in your home for three days now, and yet you did nothing."

"You were quiet during that period of time. Something the real Natsumi would do. When Hisashi woke up you were a different person entirely. That was where you revealed yourself."

"I will be sure to keep that in mind for future endeavors," said Assassin, "It is a shame that your son was not as perceptive as you."

"Hisashi tends to think more with his heart than with his head. A gift and a curse in his case. I'm surprised that you managed to sneak into our home. Kijiro told me that Rider held you off while they escaped."

"Rider was only a mild inconvenience. His strength and skill were too great for me to match. But you will find that my speed is unequaled. The second Rider's ability revealed itself to me, I withdrew. Only to meet you here in the guise of your daughter."

"Interesting," stated Rin, "You even had Kijiro and Rider fooled when they arrived."

"Kijiro and Rider have never met your daughter. So it was only natural that they did not suspect me. I could tell that you had your suspicions, however."

"I know my daughter better than anyone else. As for Kijiro, I would think that an investigator from the Association would be able to see through a ruse such as yours."

"You give him less credit than he deserves," said Assassin, "His courage in the face of death was admirable to say the least."

"What are you talking about?"

"The investigator, as well as his Servant, are dead now."

"How?" demanded Rin. Kijiro was one of the few Master's in the 6th War that she could trust. To hear news of his death was both frightening and mortifying.

"You will find that your portfolio of allies is growing thin. Soon there will be no hope for you and your beloved family. If it had not been for Archer's watchful eye I would have killed your son in the shed last night. And now, we have your daughter as well."

"What have you done with Natsumi? If you dare lay a hand on her!"

"There is no need to worry. We will not harm your daughter. She is our new ally after all."

Rin's eyes widened, the cup of tea fell from her hand and crashed onto the table, smashing into tiny pieces of porcelain. She sat in place, motionless. She could not believe what she was hearing.

"It seems you do not know your daughter as much as you claim," said Assassin with a large smile. The false Natsumi stood up and in a horrific scene her skin melted off and revealed a tall, cloaked figure.

"The other day your son told me how he was tired of being a spectator," the cloaked assailant chuckled, "I should help end his misery."

Without another word the assassin disappeared as if he were never there at all.

* * *

The young, beautiful girl entered the vile catacombs without so much as a grimace on her flawless face. The stench of decay did not bother her in the slightest as she proceeded down a long winding staircase into a room filled with nothing but rot. In the center of the room was an old man, a man who she had recently betrayed her own family to be allied with.

"Hello, Natsumi-san," said the old man, looking at her. A horde of worms surrounded his ankles and wriggled furiously before disappearing into his body. He stood in the middle of a large pit, a cracked smirk on his face.

Natsumi bowed to the old man, "I am surprised that you have agreed to my proposal," she said.

"It is I who should be surprised," replied the old man, "I did not think you would approach me for an alliance. More surprising is the fact you saw through my Servant's disguise at your school."

"Assassin is a horrible actor. Even the stupidest man in the world could point out the flaws in his act."

"Your brother did not seem to notice a thing. He walked right into my little trap."

"I said stupidest man, not dog. And he is not my brother. I would rather be dead than call that useless piece of trash my brother."

The old man laughed, "Such aggression. Is there a reason why you hate him so?"

"The Emiya family is a refined and exceptional group of magi. That mouth breathing pond scum besmirches our name."

"Very interesting. So you care for your parents and yet feel nothing towards your own brother?"

"My mother and father are easily the greatest mages in the world. It is my life's duty to live up to them and their legacy."

"So why betray them?"

"They have placed their faith in that fool. That dog. I want to show them that I am capable of proudly carrying the Emiya name. I will show them what I am capable of."

"And so you will."

"So you accept my allegiance?"

"In war, there is always a need for allies my dear. One of my original tools has recently betrayed me, it is a blessing that you have come to me in the first place."

"Betrayed? Are you telling me that you had a traitor in your ranks?"

The old man sighed, as if he were recalling a past mistake. "That is correct. In the last war we were in the possession of a Servant. She was dispatched far too early for my taste. But her Master did not wish to see her go and so she was brought back. However she was in no state to continue the 5th War and so she became a sort of...lingering spirit."

"The power to bring back a Servant? The mana capacity to keep such a Servant bound to this world for ten years? What kind of magus possesses such strength?"

The old man smiled innocently, a horrific sight to behold. "You see, my tool, in a moment of weakness, passed control of her Servant over to a man of lesser standing. He escaped with her into the city. I have had Assassin look for them constantly but to no avail."

"Then he is of no threat to us or our plans. He only has a few more days before that Servant's power is completely diminished."

"You speak the truth my dear girl," said the old man with a smile, "Besides, we have you now. A true magus." The old man gestured beneath himself and upon the ground was an enormous symbol. Natsumi recognized it as a summoning circle, akin to the one she and Rin made before her attempt to summon Archer.

"A circle? I was under the impression that the seven Servants had already been assembled."

"Indeed they have."

"Then how is it that you came to possess an extra Servant, let alone are capable of summoning another? By all accounts, this should be an impossible feat."

"So many questions," chuckled the old man.

"It is merely my nature to be curious," responded Natsumi, flatly.

"You will find that this new Grail system is far more potent than the last. It's design is far more...flexible...to say the least."

"What do you mean?"

"I have a weapon that I had been meaning to use since the last Grail War. But now, with this new system in hand the dormant power within that weapon has awoken. A power that has been growing for ten long years. Because of it, there is enough energy in this Grail to summon a hundred, maybe even a thousand Servants."

"Then why didn't you do so? This war would have been yours with the way this Grail is structured."

"Even if this Grail can summon many Servants, a catalyst is still necessary to summon each individual Servant. Something that hero had owned in life. I am not so adventurous as to spend my days roaming the world searching for such artifacts."

"A sound logic. An army of Servants would also be virtually impossible to fuel. It would be far more efficient to control just one."

"That is correct."

The old man pointed to a small slab of stone laying upon the ground behind him. It lay in the center of the circle, placed neatly as to compliment the design. Upon closer inspection it looked to be a piece of rock chipped from a large grave stone.

"Is that the catalyst for the summoning?"

"Yes, I managed to obtain this artifact some time before this 6th War started and now it shall be used to grant you a Servant the likes of which has never been seen."

Natsumi approached the stone as the old man walked to the side of the circle. Kneeling down to the stone's level she wiped away the gathering dust and a sentence could be made out upon the rock. The stone's many years of life had caused the text to lose it's clarity, however, and the only words that could be made out were:

"_**Here lies-whose blade betrayed-"**_

"A traitor?" asked Natsumi, her eyes on the stone, "How can we trust him to do as we say?"

"You will find that his reasons for betrayal are the same as your own. There are some evils in this world, that are justifiable."

"The way you are speaking it sounds as if I will summon a villain, not a hero."

"What if you do?" said the old man, "So long as you summon a Servant am I correct? Is it not your dream to become like your mother and father? To be as renowned as they were? To honor their legacy as Master's in the 5th Grail War?"

"Yes it is," answered Natsumi without hesitation.

"Then let us begin." The old man's cold dead eyes gave Natsumi the signal to begin the ritual.

"Ye first, o silver, o iron. O stone of foundation, O Archduke of the Contract. Hear me in the name of our great teacher, the Archmagus Schweinorg."

Natsumi placed her delicate hand on the tablet and the surrounding circle began to glow a brilliant crimson color. "Let the descending winds be as a wall. Let the gates in all directions be shut, rising above the crown, and let the three forked roads to the Kingdom revolve."

As Natsumi spoke the circle grew brighter and brighter. "Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut. Five perfections for each repetition. And now, let the filled sigils be annihilated in my stead!"

A powerful wind blew throughout the room and the the crackling of magical energy could be seen exuding from the red circle.

"Set," continued Natsumi, "Let thy body rest under my dominion, let my fate rest in thy blade. If thou submittest to the call of the Holy Grail and if thou wilt obey this mind, this reason, then thou shalt respond. I make my oath here."

A ball of light began to form in the center of the circle and the stone tablet began to crack and shake. "I am that person who is to become the virtue of all Heavens. I am that person who is covered with the evil of all Hades. Thou seven heavens, clad in a trinity of words, come past thy restraining rings and be thou the hands that protect the balance!"

With that final sentence the circle exploded with a blinding red light. Even Natsumi found her eyes pried away from the center as the sheer power of the light discharged from the circle. The old man merely smiled with glee. Everything was going excellently.

In seconds, the bright light dissipated as quickly as it had emerged. Natsumi looked up, her green eyes readjusting to the dim room. There in the center was an armored figure. It looked to be a boy, and from a simple glance he looked as young as she was. His hair was a short, golden color and a small ponytail was formed at the back of his head. He was incredibly feminine in appearance and if one were not paying close attention he could easily be mistaken for a girl.

He stood a few inches taller than Natsumi and his armor looked to be of a dull, gunmetal gray. Underneath the thick plates of armor he wore a dark red robe that reached down to the back of his knees. His legs and shoulders were completely clad in steel and his arms bore vicious clawed gauntlets.

"Look at him," said the old man, "What a formidable specimen. He will make an excellent Servant for you my dear."

"Yes he will," Natsumi stared at the boy and she found herself lost in his beauty, "With him, I should be able to destroy the other Master's with ease. When do we act?"

"Patience, child," hushed the old man, "We must bide our time and when we finally do reveal ourselves it will be too late for them to do anything against us."

Natsumi approached her Servant and in an instant he bowed before her with his hand on his chest. He looked at her, his green eyes rivaling her's in sheer intensity.

"I have come forth to serve you my Master," his voice was exactly what one would expect from a boy his age, light in tone. However, his delivery gave him a sense of authority and experience that one would not usually find in a person so young.

"What is your class, Servant?" asked Natsumi, as if she were giving a command to a soldier.

"My class is Saber."


	9. The Promised Tour

**A/N: **My apologies for taking **FOREVER** to update guys (T_T) Anyways here is the latest chapter. I promise to update a bit more frequently!

* * *

Chapter 9: The Promised Tour

Hisashi had been wandering the city for almost two whole hours. His quest had led him deep into the city and before he knew it he was standing right in front of the crime scene he had seen on the news. Almost an entire section of the street was cut off from the public by a long strip of yellow caution tape.

Hordes of people crowded around the sight, all bearing witness to the horror that had occurred the night before.

Hisashi pushed his way to the front, ignoring the grunts of protest as he nudged past person after person. Policemen, all carrying morbid expressions on their dutiful faces, wheeled in bodies covered with white sheets. Hisashi couldn't help but lurch as he made out spots of coagulated blood staining the cloth that draped the corpses. His fists clenched tight as body after body was wheeled out of the broken down building.

Hisashi couldn't help but listen in on the conversations of the nearby bystanders. According to them, the police have no clue as to how the extensive amount of damage had been caused. Some speculate faulty construction and others believed that the killer had brought explosives with him on his killing spree. However Hisashi knew full well who was responsible. He knew that this much damage could have only been caused by a Master and a Servant.

He pushed his way out of the crowd, his brow furrowed in both anger and annoyance, he couldn't bear to look at the crisis any longer. Hundreds of things were running through his mind at the moment. But one of them stood out amongst the throng of invasive thoughts. Archer.

He could not believe what she had said to him earlier. Her statements were callous, cold and heartless. How she could say those things was a mystery to him. It was as if she were completely devoid of emotion. As if the concept of compassion was a foreign term to her. Hisashi could still see her blank face staring at him, telling him that the lives of those people were worthless, of no value.

"Is something wrong?" asked an energetic voice that was familiar to him. Turning to his right, Hisashi was greeted by a beautiful girl with an equally beautiful smile. It was the same girl he had seen those many days ago. The one with the crimson eyes and the long silver hair. She did not wear the same coat she did before and was instead donning a snow white dress that rivaled her skin in tone. Her delicate arms were covered by the dress' sleeves and a long red skirt reached down to her ankles.

"No, it' nothing," said Hisashi, replying to her question. He tried to give her his utmost attention but he found his mind wandering to the killings.

"You're a horrible liar," said Imizviel with a giggle. She moved in closer to Hisashi, causing him to blush slightly.

"What're you talking about?" defended Hisashi, shaking his head, "I'm not lying. No, no, no."

"Uh huh," Imizviel giggled once again and grabbed Hisashi by the hand. She smiled at him, giggling as his entire face turned red in an instant.

"Wha...what are you doing?" asked Hisashi in a panic.

"You promised to take me on a tour of the city didn't you? Unless you're going back on your promise!" Imizviel pouted for a second, as if daring Hisashi to say no.

All Hisashi could do was sigh as he drew his hand away from Imizviel's. He looked at the scene of the crime once more and back at her

"I'm sorry," he said, "But I can't right now."

"Why?" she asked quizzically.

"I can't really say. It's better if you didn't know."

"Hmm," pondered Imizviel. She took a glance at the crowded scene of the crime and looked back at Hisashi. "It's got something to do with those killings doesn't it?"

"I, uh, no it doesn't."

Imizviel chuckled, "Your stuttering doesn't help you in the slightest."

"It doesn't matter," responded Hisashi, "Like I said, it's better if you don't know."

"Whatever you say," replied Imizviel as she quickly took hold of Hisashi's arm, "But you aren't gonna get rid of me that easily. You promised me a tour and that's what you'll give me."

"Bu...But!"

"No buts!" A sly smile spread across Imizviel's face as she smiled warmly at Hisashi, "Looks like you're going to have to bring me along."

Hisashi shook his head but he quickly accepted the fact that Imizviel would be virtually impossible to shake off. In all honesty he was happy that she would be joining him. Something about her granted him a sense of peace. Her presence cleared his head of all the worries that were weighing down on him.

With Imizviel wrapped around his arm like a lovable python, he walked into the streets of the city, looking back at the horrendous scene one last time. However, a sudden chill went down his spine. He felt like someone, or something, was watching him. He shifted his head to look at his surroundings, but he could see nothing.

Imizviel tugged at his arm playfully, "Hurry!" she said with a giggle. Before he could even protest, Hisashi was pulled along by the beautiful girl.

* * *

After roaming for an hour or two the pair stopped at a small toy store. Hisashi recognized this store from his youth. This family owned place usually sold stuffed toys of various animals or characters and Hisashi himself recalled Natsumi buying quite a few when she was younger. However, like all children, she discarded them as childish the older she became. The very thought caused Hisashi to smile a little, he couldn't believe how much Natsumi had changed. It was almost depressing that a child full of life would turn into an uptight, ice queen.

"Something on your mind?" asked Imizviel.

"No," replied Hisashi.

"Don't lie to me Emiya-kun...I know when you're lying."

"Fine," Hisashi chuckled nervously, "I've got a lot of memories tied to this place."

"Really? What kind of memories? Good ones? Bad ones?"

"Most of them are good. I remember coming here with my sister when we were younger. We used to come to this store on a daily basis just to play with the toys inside. I remember the store being a lot smaller then. There was an old lady who worked here too. She used give us free toys whenever my father and mother weren't around. "

"You have a sister?"

"Kind of."

"What's she like," asked Imizviel curiously.

"She used to be the most energetic kid in the world. She'd run around our house, pretending to be some kind of magical girl. I remember one day she dressed up in a little costume and started waving around a little scepter yelling, 'I will save the world, in the name of Love and Justice.'" Things changed when we got older though."

"What happened?"

"She became more and more, how should I put this? Mature. She played around less and less. She became more embroiled in her studies then she did with play time. She started talking less. It was a miracle at home if she uttered more than one sentence a day."

"Wow, she really changed."

"Yeah she did."

"What about you Hisashi-kun? What were you like when you were small?"

"Me? I was nothing special. When I was a kid I was just as energetic as my sister was, maybe even more."

"Did you change like she did?"

"I changed, but in a different way. While Natsumi became a more studious person I became less and less involved in school. My grades slipped, hell I'm surprised I even got into high school."

"You sound like a regular free spirit," said Imizviel with a smile.

"Yeah...you could say that."

"Your family sounds wonderful Hisashi."

"They are," replied Hisashi with a smile, "What about you? You must have a pretty wonderful family yourself."

"No," answered Imizviel sullenly. Her head sank to the floor in a depressed manner and Hisashi could feel her spirits sink. He must have asked a very personal question.

"Well, uh, how about we go into the toy store?" he stuttered as he tried to change the topic. He felt guilty for prying the way he did and perhaps the toy store could lift her spirits.

"Really?" Imizviel's head perked up, like she was a small child. It was as if she had completely forgotten the question that Hisashi had asked her.

"Of course."

Like a flash of lightning, Imizviel charged into the store and began sifting through the mountain of stuffed animals and plushies.

Stepping inside, Hisashi was taken aback at the size of the store as a whole. Dozens of shelves could be seen and each shelf was crammed with numerous animals all of which were designed in an incredibly unique way.

"Holy cr-" Hisashi's awe struck exclamation was interrupted by the overly gleeful voice of Imizviel.

"Look at this one!" in her hands was a plush toy that resembled a small girl with red hair wearing a bright pink dress. The dress was incredibly detailed and a small pair of wings could be seen on the girl's back. In the plushie's right hand was an intricate staff with a bright yellow star on the tip that appeared to glow when the owner pressed a small button on her hand.

"I...want...it," said Imizviel, staring at the doll with a powerful desire in her eyes.

"Well, lets get it then," he said. He took a glance at the line for the register and almost fainted when he saw that it snaked throughout the entire store. Looking at the end he spotted Imizviel, she had already saved themselves a spot, much to Hisashi's dread.

It seemed like an eternity to Hisashi as the line moved slower than he thought humanly possible. Finally, after eons of waiting it was their turn. The lady at the register was an old woman, her sullen eyes still contained a sense of youth and energy.

"Hello there," she said, greeting Hisashi and Imizviel.

"Hello!" replied Imizviel joyfully, "I would like to purchase this incredibly cute doll here."

"Oh, of course," said the old lady, "You have a very energetic girl on your hands here young man."

"I know," said Hisashi with a sigh. He reached into his back pocket and grabbed a small wallet. Looking inside he saw that he had...no money.

"Is something wrong?" asked the old lady.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have the money to pay for this doll," said Hisashi. He looked over at Imizviel. Her crimson eyes seemed almost on the brink of tears as she stared at Hisashi, pondering the meaning behind his words. "I'm sorry Imizviel."

"No, no, no it's fine," said the old lady. The old woman handed the small doll to Imizviel with a smile.

"Thank you!" said Imizviel hugging the doll tightly, "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"It was a pleasure my dear." Imizviel quickly grabbed Hisashi by the arm and the two walked out of the store. Imizviel continued to smile at the old woman, constantly saying 'Thank you'.

"Oh and Hisashi," said the old woman before they left, "Give your sister my regards. Tell her that the old lady still remembers you." The old lady chuckled warmly as he left.

A warm smile spread across Hisashi's face, "I will," he said.

As the two left the store Imizviel continued to hug her doll tightly, as if she were a human vice grip.

"Having fun with that doll?" he asked with a smile.

Without warning Imizviel wrapped her arms around Hisashi, giving him a hug. "Thank you," she said. The warmth of her soft body filled Hisashi with a peace of mind. For the first time in his life he felt of use. He felt that so long as he could make Imizviel smile and laugh the way she did today, so long as he could make her happy, that his life would have purpose.

"Imizviel!" yelled an infuriated voice.

There standing to the right of the embracing couple was Verner. He still possessed the same suave and overly professional appearance he had when Hisashi first met him. His silver eyes glared at Hisashi and the anger within them could be felt from a mile away. He tightened the red tie around his neck as he stared at the two.

"V...Verner," said Imizviel, her soft voice stuttering, "What are you doing here?"

"I came looking for you," he answered, "You disappeared. Is it not the duty of an escort to ensure that his mistress is safe?"

Imizviel remained silent. Her crimson eyes stared at the ground in a calm submission. Hisashi was confused. When he had first met them it seemed that Verner was the one serving Imizviel, but now it was as if the roles had been reversed.

"You know fully well that leaving the manor without me is strictly prohibited, m'lady."

"C'mon," interrupted Hisashi, "She just wanted to have fun! Besides, aren't you her servant? It should be her making up the rules for you, not the other way around!"

"You seem to be under the impression that your opinion matters in this conversation," remarked Verner flatly. He shot a commanding glance at Imizviel. "Let us return home, Imizviel. Now!"

"Imizviel motioned to leave but Hisashi's hand shot out and grabbed her. He looked her in the eye and said, "You don't have to do this," he whispered.

"I have no choice." Imizviel softly took Hisashi's hand off of her arm and marched over to Verner's side.

Hisashi's fists clenched as he stared at Verner. He knew there was a reason he felt uneasy about him the first time they had met.

"It's getting dark. You should be getting home Emiya," Verner's voice was cruel and filled with a murderous intent. The two disappeared into the sunset, Imizviel looking back at Hisashi one last time, her arms still wrapped around her doll.


	10. Mother and the Serpent

Chapter 10: Mother and the Serpent

Rin was out of breath and it wasn't very long before she found herself collapsed on a wooden bench. Looking at the empty, expansive street before her, Rin couldn't help but give a sigh. For the past three hours she had been running throughout the streets of the city hoping to find either Archer or Hisashi, but to no avail. She had to find him. Assassin was on the loose and without Archer to protect him, Hisashi would be helpless. Forcefully, lifting herself from the bench, Rin continued to walk down the empty street. It was getting dark, soon the Servants and Masters would be on the move, she had to be swift.

As she walked she couldn't help but think back on what Assassin had told her. How her own daughter, Natsumi, betrayed her. She didn't understand how Natsumi could do such a thing. It would seem that all of Natsumi's efforts were directed toward Hisashi's demise. Was she really that jealous of Hisashi? Rin made notes in her head, attempting to piece together who could be responsible for all that has transpired, but every time she made a revelation, she would come up empty handed.

The patter of footsteps behind her made Rin's determined stroll come to a halt. She shot a quick glance behind her, only to see nothing. Her eyes narrowed, she was no fool. Someone, or something was following her. She turned around and moved as if to continue walking, but in an instant she turned on her heel and fired a Gandr shot into the street. Nothing.

"I guess I'm just being paranoid," she said to herself. She looked up into the sky, the sun was going down. She estimated that she had an hour before it was dark. She had to hurry.

* * *

The girl in white watched the raven haired woman cautiously walk down the street. She was brave to walk down such an empty path of her own accord. Her bright yellow eyes stared at the woman, making note of her posture, her appearance, her mannerisms. The woman had almost seen her, a close call to say the least. But now she had the knowledge that the raven haired woman was a magi, and a seemingly powerful one at that. The girl in white's Master ordered her to get rid of any threats to their operation, and such a powerful mage was more than just a threat.

She gestured with her right hand and from the darkness appeared an enormous canine. It had the appearance of a large wolf, easily ten feet in length and three feet at the shoulder. It's fur was thick and pitch black, as if one was looking into darkness itself. It's head was vicious in appearance, it's jaws salivating as it looked at the raven haired woman from afar.

The girl rubbed the beast's ears, and the creature licked her delicate fingers in response.

"Go." The girl pointed in the woman's direction and the black wolf began to growl violently.

* * *

Rin stopped in front of a large web of yellow tape. She surmised that this must have been the crime scene that she had seen on television alongside Hisashi. The building had been completely cut off from the public, probably due to the police investigation.

She looked closely at the damage done to the building. Without a doubt it was caused by a battle between Servant's.

"Dammit Shirou," muttered Rin, "You had better hurry."

A low growl could be made out from behind her and a smirk spread across Rin's face. She turned around and laid eyes upon a massive black wolf. It's size was equal to that of a fully grown tiger. It's eyes glowed a brilliant red in the dark of the night and it's jaws drooled as it stared at Rin.

"You're a big one," said Rin with a chuckle. She gestured with her hands and a gout of flame was produced from her palm. The flames spiraled forward into the wolf but it quickly dodged the fire by leaping to the side. Rin clicked her tongue, she didn't expect a creature that big to be so quick.

The dog's shoulders began to shiver and from them emerged another pair of heads. The heads were identical in appearance save for their eyes which were each of a different color. The left head's eyes were yellow, the middle's were red and the right's were blue.

"Cerberus," said Rin, gazing at the wolf's three heads. She deduced what the beast was in an instant and a cold chill ran down her spine, as if her whole body was telling her to run away. However, she knew that retreat would be pointless. She saw how quickly Cerberus moved, if she were to turn her back the beast would easily be able to run her down.

The wolf's three heads began to growl loudly. It's six eyes stared at Rin with a violent hunger. In response Rin raised both of her hands, pointing her index fingers toward the large, black wolf as if she were a gunslinger.

In an instant, Rin fired a horrendous torrent of gandr shots at Cerberus. The black wolf lunged for her, sidestepping and dodging the individual shots as if they were not even there. Rin was in disbelief, but continued to fire at the swift monstrosity. The creature leaped for her and she quickly rolled to the left, narrowly avoiding Cerberus' jaws.

Flicking her wrist, a glowing ball of flame appeared in Rin's hand and she threw the sphere at Cerberus. The black wolf jumped backwards to avoid the projectile and the ball of flame hit the concrete building behind Cerberus, causing immense damage to it.

Rin stared at Cerberus in pure disbelief. Not only was the beast fast, but it was capable of seemingly dodging any projectile thrown at it. How it could perform such a feat was unknown to Rin, but she had to find a weakness. The large black wolf growled and began to circle Rin like a hungry vulture. Rin followed it with her blue eyes, her hands in the ready position to fire her Gandr.

She lifted her hand and fired a single Gandr at the large wolf, which it quickly sidestepped. Shortly afterward, she fired another Gandr which Cerberus dodged without difficulty. In fact, he didn't just dodge it. When she lifted her hand to fire the Gandr, a split second before the Gandr would even be fired, Cerberus would move to dodge it.

To reinforce her hypothesis Rin fired two Gandr shots each one aimed at the sides of Cerberus, not directly at it. As predicted Cerberus did not even attempt to dodge the attacks.

"I see now," said Rin. She raised both of her arms again and fired a torrent of gandr's at Cerberus once more. As planned the black wolf dodged the bolts by bounding from side to side as it closed in on Rin.

With a wave of her hand, Rin sent out a trail of flame, spreading out in front of her. It spiked out to the sides of Cerberus, the black wolf did not attempt to dodge the trails, as they did not come close to striking him. Little did it know that Rin was setting it up for a trap.

She continued to fire her Gandr at an unbelievably rapid rate, almost akin to a machine gun. Although Cerberus dodged each blast without fail it's ability to dodge was hindered by the trails of flame off to it's side.

In a split second Cerberus leaped into Rin's vision, it's three mouths gaping wide open. In an instant Rin pulled a myriad of gems from her sleeve and threw them at Cerberus. As planned, Cerberus leaped to the side to dodge them but found itself halting due to the fiery paths that Rin had laid out. Though not all the gems hit, two struck Cerberus squarely, which was all Rin needed.

A gigantic explosion ensued and a gust of wind blasted forth from the impact, dousing the trails of flame without so much as an effort. The cloud of smoke soon dissipated and there, laid out before Rin, was the corpse of Cerberus. Like salt thrown into a body of water the deceased Cerberus dissolved into the ground.

Rin wiped the sweat from her brow and gave a small smirk, she would pat herself on the back if she weren't so exhausted.

"Intriguing," said a bored, monotone voice from behind Rin. She slowly turned around and perched on the top of a tall streetlamp was a girl in white. To Rin, she looked akin to a living doll. She had vibrant, curly red hair that flowed down the front of her shoulders. She did not look a day over twelve and Rin found it difficult to see her as a threat...were it not for the enormous, white scythe in the small girl's left hand and her glowing yellow, serpent like eyes. She looked down at Rin with an unamused, bored expression on her childlike face.

"And who would you be?" asked Rin, maintaining her usual calm.

"Caster," replied the girl automatically. Her eyes remained on Rin, unmoving but continuing to give off a sense of boredom. Looking into her eyes gave Rin the chills. They were intimidating to say the least and gave a powerful sense of presence.

"I suppose that creature you summoned was Cerberus? Am I correct?" queried Rin.

"Correct," responded Caster in yet another single word sentence. Rin shuddered. If indeed Caster summoned Cerberus, then her ability's as a magus in life must have been extraordinary. However, Rin could not quite put her finger on who Caster could possibly be. Who in mythology ever possessed the ability to control Cerberus? There is always Hades, but Rin doubted that this girl could be a person of such renown. Besides, the grail did not have such capability as to summon a god.

"Then I commend you," stated Rin, "Your attempt at my life was a good one at best. But you see, I realized what Cerberus' ability was as soon as he moved to dodge my attack before I even performed it. I deduced that his three heads allowed him to see through time. A very potent ability, but a human being with that power would be more of a threat than a beast. Animals, even ones with precognitive powers, tend to get fooled easily."

Caster yawned at Rin's comment, as if she were completely unimpressed with her strategy.

"I'm sorry," said Rin with a chuckle, "Am I boring you?"

Caster rubbed her watery eyes and then gave Rin a glance, stating, "Greatly."

"Allow me to apologize once again. Do you mind if we continue where we left off?"

Caster jumped down from the lamp post and seemed to float to the ground. The enormous scythe did not seem to weigh her down at all. She gestured with her right hand and from the darkness appeared the black wolf.

"Cerberus? Again?" Rin chuckled, surely Caster would know by now that she possessed the necessary abilities and skill to defeat such a creature.

"Yes." Caster continued to give off a bored expression. In an instant Cerberus leaped towards Rin, his three heads sprouting from it's shoulders.

Rin attempted to roll out of the large dog's way...but instead she found herself rolling into his attack. The beast's jaws clamped down on her right arm and he proceeded to throw her to the side like a rag doll. Rin's body spiraled onto the pavement, blood trailed after her and the hard concrete scratched her knees and forearms. She struggled to get up, her arm stinging with sharp pain and agony.

"Foolish," said Caster.

"H...how?" asked Rin, barely able to stand up on her own two feet. Blood ebbed down her arm and drenched her hand.

"Adapted," said Caster. It was at this moment Rin realized that the Cerberus before her was the same one that she had killed earlier and even retained the memories of it's death. Like all animals Cerberus merely altered it's pattern of attack to better compensate for it's enemy. Instead of giving Rin time to prepare another trap, it feigned an attack, forcing her to roll into a position that it had already foreseen.

Cerberus then began to circle her. She could see her fresh blood drip down it's maw and onto the pavement. She fell to her knees, and held her index finger towards Cerberus. She fired her gandr at the beast in one last attempt at survival. Cerberus merely dodged the attacks as easily as he did before and lunged at Rin. His mouth opened wide, and Rin could almost feel his teeth wrap around her face. However, the beast leaped backward a split second before a large spike flew down into the ground. Had Cerberus been in that spike's path, he would have been impaled.

Landing before Rin was a beautiful woman with unbelievably long, plum hair that almost touched the ground. In her hands were gripped two spikes suspended by chains, they looked akin to giant nails. She wore a pitch black leather garb that gave her a very sultry appearance and a dark purple visor hid her eyes away.

"Well whaddya know?" said a voice from behind Rin.

There appeared a man she knew very well. A man whom she had known, and even despised when she was younger. He stroked his wavy blue hair and gave a smirk in Rin's direction. "I guess we're even now, eh, Tohsaka?"


	11. Agony Touch

Chapter 11: Agony Touch

The sun was completely gone now and nothing but darkness and dim street lights accompanied Hisashi as he walked home. He continued to seethe with rage and hatred, most of it directed towards Verner after their earlier confrontation.

"Who the hell does he think he is?" grunted Hisashi, talking to himself, "What makes him so goddamn important that he can just boss Imizviel around!"

With a growl he lashed out at the nearest lamp post, kicking it repeatedly as if it were a punching bag. He kicked and kicked until his lungs were out of breath and his shins bruised. He did not know why, but everything seemed to be against him today. First it was the senseless murders in the city, then it was Archer's coldness and now Verner's haughtiness. Today was not his day.

Hundreds of thoughts spiraled out of control in his head. Thoughts of pain, inferiority, anger, hatred, sorrow. Thoughts that when bundled together would cause even the most hardy of men to break down in tears. Hisashi's breathing became rapid and in an instant he roared incoherently into the night sky.

"What an angry boy we have here." Chills were felt all throughout Hisashi's body. He knew that voice. It was a voice he recognized all too well. He turned around and before him was a man in a midnight black dress suit. His hair was a pearl white and recognizable glasses were perched on top of his eyes. It was Taro Tanaka.

"Y...You!" said Hisashi with a stutter. He could feel the sweat drip down from his neck all the way down to the small of his back. He was afraid, very afraid.

"So you recognize me, I'm flattered." With a wave of his hand, Berserker appeared directly behind Tanaka, as if he appeared out of thin air. The samurai who had once been white was now painted with blood, giving his armor a deep crimson color. It did not take much thought for Hisashi to find out where that blood came from.

"It was you!" In an instant Hisashi's fears turned into pure anger. It was Tanaka and Berserker who had killed all those people. It was their fault those thirteen lives had been cut short. It was they who had performed such a horrific injustice.

"What are you talking about?" Tanaka had a more psychotic demeanor than usual. His glasses were cracked and Hisashi could make out that his pupils were unbelievably small. It was as if he were on a very powerful drug.

"You were the one who killed all those people in the office building. All thirteen people are dead because of you!"

"Guilty!" said Tanaka, raising his hand in a flamboyant fashion. "Indeed it was I! What are you going to do about it? Hm? Cry like a baby? Or fight like man?"

"I'm going to do more than that," said Hisashi, his fist's clenched and shaking. "I'm going to kill you!"

He wasn't thinking things through. Any sane man would have thought twice before rushing towards a Master and Servant pair like that but something within Hisashi compelled him to go forward. It was not passion, it was not a sense of justice. It was hatred. Not towards Tanaka. Towards himself.

Berserker disappeared like a phantom, and in an instant a sharp pain could be felt in Hisashi's gut. Berserker had punched him in the stomach. The impact made a loud cracking sound and to Hisashi it was like getting hit by a sedan going forty miles per hour. He flew backwards like a rag doll, loudly connecting with the hard pavement. His elbows and knees were scratched by the cement and a small stream of blood ebbed down his lips.

"Look at you!" said Tanaka, his laughter subsided and was replaced by a sinister, cold tone, "You think you owe something to those people? To those expendable civil servants?" Tanaka began to chuckle, laughing at his own statement. "You have no idea. I saved them. That's what I did."

"Saved them?" asked Hisashi, coughing up more blood, "How could you have possibly saved them?"

"I used to be one of them," said Tanaka flatly. "I used to be nothing more than a little worker bee, buzzing around the hive, mindless. Life was nothing but the same thing over and over again. It was always, Tanaka-san do this, Tanaka-san do that." A smile came across his face, but it was not one of madness, but one of sorrow. Hisashi looked into his eyes and could see a drastic change, they became more relaxed, more calm. "Home was no different. I would come back to an ungrateful wife. One who nagged on and on...that is, until Berserker helped me shut her up. Berserker was the best thing to ever happen to my life. This Grail War, everything! Yes, I saved them. Saved them from a miserable life filled with nothing but disappointment!"

Hisashi pushed himself back up. Tanaka was insane. He had to stop him. No matter what the cost. He had to fight.

"Still want more?" asked Tanaka with a smile, "You sure are a glutton for punishment." Berserker rushed towards Hisashi again and landed a powerful blow to his stomach, flinging him backwards and face down into the pavement. Tanaka only laughed harder.

Hisashi tried to get up once more, but the pain was unbearable. He felt like his insides were nothing but mush, a churned up goop that could come pouring out of his mouth at any moment.

"Look at you!" said Tanaka, "You're pathetic! No, you're less than pathetic. You're worthless! Useless even! What purpose do you serve in this war? None!"

"I know," said Hisashi through his clenched teeth. However, the faint whisper was unheard by Tanaka and the madman continued his drawn out insult.

"Aren't you the son of the famous Emiya Shirou and Rin? And yet look at you! You can't even cast the most basic of spells! What a disgrace!"

"I know." Another unheard whisper. Hisashi's body began to surge with pain, but it was not from his beating. He was funneling prana through his body. A dangerous act for not only him, but for others around him. But at the moment, he could care less about the people around him.

"Where did they find you? Some kind of magus orphanage? I doubt that. They would find at least something of value in those places. No, I know where they found you. The gutter, along with the rest of the trash! In fact that's what you are. You are not a Master, not a magus, you're just trash!"

"**I know!**" In an instant the surrounding fifteen feet around Hisashi erupted in a vibrant crimson light. The intensity nearly blinded Tanaka and the sheer force generated caused the concrete beneath them all to shatter like glass and the Master and Servant to be launched backwards like paper bags in a hurricane.

Hisashi's body began to form rips. Blood poured out from the gruesome gaps and muscle tissue could be made out underneath. Hisashi was in an unspeakable amount of pain. But he didn't care. He would show Tanaka just how useless he really was.

"Wh...what...the hell was that?" stuttered Tanaka. His pride had turned into sheer terror. His glasses were snapped in half by the explosion and a large cut was visible on his forehead.

"It's a little something I was born with. My parent's haven't given it a proper name but I think I'll come up with one on the spot, right here, right now." Hisashi stood confident in the middle of the desolate crater that he had just created. "I think I'll call it, the agony touch. Because it hurts like a bitch."

"Kill him Berserker!" yelled Tanaka. Berserker rose from the rubble and charged towards Hisashi once again, his blade drawn and ready to taste his blood.

Hisashi met this with a counter charge, funneling mana into his left arm. He may not be able to use magic properly, but he knew full well how to channel it. After all, he learned from the best.

As Berserker raised his sword above his head, Hisashi rammed his palm into Berserker's chest, causing the Servant to be engulfed in a cacophonous, crimson explosion.

Hisashi fell to his knees, his left arm throbbing with pain and drenched in blood. It was almost entirely unrecognizable and virtually no skin was left upon it. Tears streamed down his face, the pain was too much. But he had to keep going. It was the only thing he could do. The only thing he could ever do.

Berserker's bloodied body crashed into the concrete almost twenty five feet away from Hisashi. His armor was completely destroyed and all that could be seen was a frail man with a horribly scarred face. Then suddenly, he laughed. It was no ordinary laugh, but a bloodcurdling, hollow laugh.

"What's so damn funny?" yelled Hisashi, his voice giving off a sense of exhaustion.

Berserker rose from the debris, though Hisashi's eyes blurred, he could make out that the Servant was covered with horrible injuries, mostly from his attack.

"This is the first time I have felt this much pain," Berserker's body tingled, as if he were getting some sick sexual pleasure from his own injuries. "Keep going!" In an instant Berserker lunged towards Hisashi, his body moved faster than the eye could see and before Hisashi could even react, the scarred samurai was right in front of him.

Berserker then grabbed Hisashi by the throat and began to yell loudly, "Do it! Do it again! I demand it!"

"You want it so bad?" Hisashi raised his bloodied left arm and placed it upon Berserker's face, "Then have it you sick son of a bitch!" He charged his left arm with mana once again, and the crimson light was the last thing he saw before blacking out.

* * *

Berserker was left standing in the middle of a crater, his scarred body was nothing more than muscle tissue. He smiled widely as he tossed the knocked out boy to the ground. He gazed at the boy's left arm, or what was left of it. It was nothing but a twisted mass of flesh, as if the boy's entire arm had been put into a grinder. Berserker could not help but give a small chuckle.

"Finish him Berserker!" ordered Tanaka.

Berserker lifted his blade high above his head, prepared to finish the boy off with a single stroke. However, he could not help but feel regret. This boy had allowed him to experience true pain, and now he would have to kill him. Such a waste.

"Stop right there," spoke a familiar voice. From the darkness emerged a girl that Berserker knew all too well. The one that had bested him a few days ago. The raven haired ninja, Archer.

"Archer," said Berserker, "Good to see you again."

"Silence," responded Archer coldly. Her sapphire eyes gazed upon her horribly wounded Master and in a split second she drew her blade. The black blade then quickly swirled in darkness and in it's stead were eight, pitch black shurikens. She threw them into Berserker, who flailed his blade wildly in an attempt to deflect them. But they were much too fast and the sharp shurikens pierced through him and out the other side of his body. Afterward, as if they had a mind of their own, they flew back into Archer's hands. But they did not seem to stop the skinned samurai.

Berserker's mouth widened into a grin, the distorted, veined remnants of his face made it a horrendous sight to see. He lifted his blade high above his head and a faint voice was heard. Archer herself did not recognize the voice, but she knew deep down inside, it was something pure evil.

"**Kill. Maim. Butcher. Destroy. Impale. Slice. Dismember. Again and Again."**

The blood around them spun into the air like a vile, disgusting tornado. The crimson droplets spun around and around and without warning, stopped in midair.

"Feed," said Berserker. And instantaneously, the blood dived into his silver blade. The same phrase could be heard uttering from the blade once more.

"**Kill. Maim. Butcher. Destroy. Impale. Slice. Dismember. Again and Again." **

A glorious white light then emanated from the tip of the skinned samurai's katana. Archer herself shielded her eyes from the intensity and the white light shone throughout the dark street, blocking everything from view.

In a matter of minutes the glow subsided and Archer looked up to see that the skinned samurai was gone and instead replaced by someone different. Someone who looked nothing like the warrior she fought earlier.

There, standing before her, was a handsome man. His hair was a bright red and it flowed over his shoulders and to his waist. He looked to be in his early twenties and he wore a bright, blood red kimono. In his hand was the silver katana, it's brilliance so great that it would appear pure white to those gazing upon it.

The handsome man breathed the night air in deeply, as if reveling in it. "A beautiful night to die, is it not Archer?"

"It is you who will be dying. Muramasa Sengo."


	12. The Shrine Maiden

**A/N: **After many months of writer's block I have decided to go ahead and continue my story xD. Sorry for the wait. Anyways, enjoy this new Chapter.

* * *

Chapter 12: The Shrine Maiden

Archer's eyes were cold and mechanical as she stared at her overly confident foe, Berserker. The man held his silver blade firmly in his right hand, a wide smile on his handsome face.

"What are you waiting for Archer?" asked Taro Tanaka, his overly confident demeanor returning, "You know who he is now, don't you? You said it yourself."

The samurai in red bowed in an exaggerated manner, "I am Muramasa Sengo."

"The insane swordsmith," stated Archer, "I know you all too well. Stories of your corrupted blades reached every corner of Japan."

"His repu-" Before Tanaka could even finish his sentence, Archer had flung her midnight black shurikens towards him. Their blades were so sharp that they sang through the air like a beautiful choir. They sailed through the madman and cleaved him into numerous pieces. The shreds of his body fell to the ground like autumn leaves, and the pool of blood they formed stained the gray concrete. The shurikens flew back into Archer's hand and in an instant swirled into darkness, forming a long, sharp katana at least two feet longer than that of Berserker's sword.

"There," said Archer, her face without emotion, "Now disappear." A silent moment passed between the two Servants. Archer waited for the red samurai to fade away into the darkness, but nothing happened. Berserker began to laugh wildly to himself, as if the prospect of his master's quick and unexpected demise amused him.

"Clever girl, Archer," stated Berserker, "But you are far too late." Archer simply stared at the laughing samurai, "If you had done that earlier, perhaps when we had first crossed paths, I would have been long gone." The mad man lifted his silver blade, it's polish gleamed in the moonlight like a still lake. "My blade feeds on the blood of others, their life force is consumed by me and gives me more power than you can possibly fathom. Although you have killed my master, I have more than enough prana from slaughtering those pathetic humans to keep myself in this world."

"Thirteen humans would hardly be called a sustainable energy source," responded Archer.

"No, no, no my I have killed far more than just thirteen measly humans. You have to count my Master's family, his coworkers, children, so much more."

Archer's fists clenched and her hand tightened around her black sword. She was done talking. She had learned enough. The man was pure evil, nothing more, nothing less. He has performed unspeakable horrors to the innocent, and she would not stand by and let him continue to exist.

"I see you are done talking," laughed Berserker, "Fine." The crimson samurai's face quickly distorted, his smile widening to a length impossible for a normal human. He raised his silver blade above his head and a bloodthirsty spark lit up in his pitch black eyes.

Without saying a single word, the two charged at one another with blinding speed. The clash of steel echoed throughout the empty street and sparks lit up the darkness around them. Archer slashed at Berserker with her midnight black nodachi, hitting nothing but the air as the crimson samurai dodged her vicious blows. His speed was unbelievable. She easily had an advantage over him due to the length of her blade, but he still managed to dodge and close the distance without so much as an effort.

Berserker viciously countered Archer's attacks with a flurry of his own, slashing in a pattern that would be impractical for a regular human. He was without technique, just pure instinct and an unbridled lust for blood. He quickly broke through Archer's defense and made an arcing slash aimed directly for her neck. However, the raven haired ninja managed to avoid the fatal blow, leaping backwards like a cat.

"You are quick," said Berserker, amused, "As expected of a kunoichi." In a flash Berserker instantly closed the distance between him and his target. "A shame that I am just as fast!" Archer, startled by the samurai's speed, barely managed to lift her blade to block the incoming whirlwind of attacks. A shower of sparks flew into the air, so brilliant that they could be mistaken for fireworks.

Archer could feel her arms grow weary as she attempted to shield herself from Berserker's onslaught of blows. Such were their impact that the ground beneath Archer began to crumble from the sheer force behind each strike. She could see Berserker's smile widen as he pummeled her weakening defenses, his eyes brimming with nothing but pleasure.

With a loud roar, Berserker lashed out with all of his strength and swatted Archer's obsidian blade out of her hands. The samurai's sword stabbed through her right shoulder, sliding into her flesh with unbelievable ease. Archer gasped, a sharp pain coursing through her body as Berserker lifted her off the ground with his sword. The mad samurai smiled even wider as he stared at the helpless ninja suspended above him. Her blood trickled down his blade all the way to the hilt, exciting him.

"Dammit," whispered Archer. She was going to die here. No matter how much she attacked Berserker, now matter how many wounds he sustained, he just wouldn't die. Where was his power coming from? She had never seen a man who could ignore pain as well as he did, there had to be a reason.

"Seems the tables have turned now," mocked the samurai, "When we first met, you had the advantage, but things are different now!" He giggled, much like a small child would. Archer's heart began to race. She can't allow herself to die. Not like this. Hisashi needs her, if she dies here then there will be nothing to stop Berserker from butchering him. "Any last words?"

"Just shut up!" exclaimed a voice from behind. Berserker turned around, only to have an incomprehensible mass of bloody flesh grab him by the face. A bright crimson light filled his vision, he knew what had happened. In a split second his ears were filled with a thundering boom. The ground was uplifted. Be it stone, concrete or metal, everything was sent hurling into the darkness of the street.

* * *

Archer lifted herself from the cold, cracked ground beneath and looked at her surroundings. The street was devastated, almost as if a megaton bomb had gone off. The street lamps were uprooted like trees and their lights dim. Slabs of stone were scattered in numerous locations, and a large crater was in the ground. Pipes could be made out underneath, expelling water through the cracks in their frame.

"Hisashi!" was all she could utter. She scrambled to her feet, and began to search the area for her Master. The pile of stones and rock were scattered in such a fashion that finding him would prove to be an extremely difficult task, but she would not give up. "Hisashi!" she yelled again, "Where are you!"

"Here," she heard a groggy, exhausted wheeze and she swiftly made way to it's direction. There was Hisashi, lying in a pool of fresh blood, all coming from the void stump that had once been his left arm.

"Hisashi! What have you done?" gasped Archer, taking him in her arms. Hisashi looked into her sapphire eyes and a small smirk spread on his face.

"This is the first time I've seen you so worried," he tried to chuckle, but only managed to cough a sizable amount of blood.

"Now is not the time to be joking you fool!" scolded Archer, her eyes filling with tears. "I failed you! I was supposed to protect you and instead I let Berserker nearly kill you."

"It's not your fault," replied Hisashi, comforting her, "I was the one being difficult this morning. You told me to stay calm, but I didn't listen. Now look where I ended up. Besides, you still managed to save me right? I may not be in one piece, but missing one piece is better than having none right?"

"That was the stupidest analogy I have ever heard," said Archer, a smile spreading across her face.

"Hey, it got you to smile right?" laughed Hisashi. The young boy's eyes closed and his head nodded off limply.

"Hisashi?" Archer tried to wake him, but to no avail, he was unconscious. She could see his face grow pale, he was losing far too much blood.

"Damn can that boy administer pain," from a large pile of rubble emerged Berserker, his face in ribbons after the point blank explosion. His sword was on the ground beneath his feet. He cackled at Archer, "Try as you might, there is no way you can kill me ninja girl. Face it. I am invincible."

"No you are not. I had my doubts, but now I fully understand," replied Archer, her sapphire eyes emitting a cold, vicious stare.

Berserker paused for a moment, picking his sword off of the ground. His smile faded, and his once confident face grew somber. "What are you talking about?"

"The sword is the Servant, not you."

Berserker, chuckled under his breath, "So you've figured it out. You ninjas are just too damn perceptive." Berserker sighed heavily, disappointed that his ruse had been uncovered. "You are correct. I am not Muramasa Sengo...I am the Muramasa Blade. The sword that has brought madness to the hearts of all who wield me. I am the true Servant Berserker. This body is simply my Noble Phantasm. A flesh puppet designed to redirect attention."

"A very clever ruse. You needed the puppet to survive. Should the stronger Servants have attacked the blade head on you would break and be destroyed." Archer's long nodachi quickly changed shape, swirling into darkness and reemerging as a large studded club, easily larger than Archer herself. "Nobumasa has detected your weakness. It is the end Berserker."

"The end? I sincerely doubt that," replied the bloodied samurai, "You are not as strong as the other Servants, ninja girl. In fact, you might be the weakest Servant I have ever seen. You lack the raw strength to break me!"

"I will not argue with you. I rely far more on my individual skill and tools than actual strength." Archer slowly placed her hands together and closed her brilliant blue eyes. "But I have more than enough tools to end you!"

"So confi-" Berserker's remark was cut short by an intense white light emanating from beneath Archer.

"Shibaru," she whispered softly. In an instant a bright myriad of symbols erupted from beneath her, attaching themselves to Berserker's body. So numerous were the symbols, that they covered every inch of his bloodied body, giving him the appearance of a glowing silhouette.

"What is this?" exclaimed Berserker, his voice muffled from the symbols.

"A binding spell," Archer answered flatly. She was surprised that such a spell had worked. Normally the binding didn't work on anything remotely human in nature. Perhaps it was the fact that her opponent was not truly a human, just a mass of flesh given life by a sword of madness.

"Divinations?" yelled Berserker, "How the hell does a ninja know divinations?" The samurai tried to move, but the symbols held him back, freezing him in place. He howled in fury and panic as he struggled to break free from the binding symbols.

"Moeru," whispered Archer. The symbols on Berserker's body then began to glow a bright red and, without warning, Berserker burst into flames. His flesh charred and melted away like ice in a summer heat.

"You bitch! I'll kill you!" Berserker charged towards Archer, his blade held high. The flames enveloping his body gave him a demonic appearance as he closed the distance between him and Archer.

"Kabe," said Archer calmly, and as Berserker's blade came down on her the symbols littering his body quickly dispersed and formed a wall in front of Archer, effectively defending from his attack. Berserker quickly leaped backwards, narrowly avoiding Archer's enormous club crashing down on him.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit," he repeated. His eyes reflected the growing panic within him. He could not strike her with full strength, if he did, he risked chipping or breaking himself on the wall she had created.

"Seems the tables have turned now," said Archer, repeating Berserker's earlier quip. She engaged the samurai, flailing around her enormous club. The samurai, tried to retreat but it was far too late, the club's range was too long and it slammed into the sword in his arm. The blade shattered into a million shards and a bloodcurdling scream resounded from the body's mouth. A scream so terrifying that Archer's body cringed at it's tone. The shards of the sword itself began to bleed coagulated blood as the screaming body twitched and clawed at it's own face.

In a gruesome display the shards of the sword swirled around the body, squirting blood from it's various pieces. In seconds both the body and the sword disappeared, dispersing into a massive pool of dry blood staining the ground.

Archer fell to the floor, breathing heavily. She had expended almost all of her energy performing the divinations, so much so that she almost caused herself to disappear. She never had much magical power in life and she usually avoided performing such magic due to the fatigue it caused to her body. But this time, there was no alternative. Berserker had to be stopped, and she succeeded in her mission.

She slowly got to her feet, her legs trembling with exhaustion. She went over to Hisashi, who continued to lay in the same position he was in earlier. His eyes closed, and his face paler than ever. She couldn't help but smile, he fought well today.

"How touching," said a recognizable voice behind Archer. Her eyes widened in disbelief, and she turned slowly to face the source. Standing before her was an extremely tall man covered in an obsidian black cloak. His skull mask filled Archer with an abhorrent amount of terror.

"You!" exclaimed Archer, she drew her sword limply. She barely had enough energy to swing, let alone fight once again.

"I have been looking all over this city for you two," Assassin chuckled, "I had found him earlier, but I decided to let Berserker perform my duties, much less energy involved that way."

"Enough talk Assassin," stated Archer flatly, "If you are here to fight, then let us fight!"

"Are you sure you want to be wasting time fighting me?" asked Assassin, "Your Master looks like he could die at any second." From his cloak, Assassin drew his pair of blurry swords, the blades that nearly killed Archer a few days ago. He readied himself for a lunge but was unnerved by a powerful downward strike from his left. Dodging just in time, Assassin faced his new opponent, his blank mask reflecting no emotion whatsoever.

Emerging from the dust of the impact zone was a young, beautiful girl in shimmering silver armor. In her hand was an invisible sword that could not be seen by the naked eye.

From behind the silver girl was a tall, handsome man wearing a bright red cloak. He drew his own pair of blades and shot a commanding glance towards Archer.

"Run," he stated flatly, "Get him out of here!"

Archer simply nodded and picked Hisashi up into her arms. She turned to look back at the mysterious pair and then disappeared into the night, carrying her heavily wounded Master with her.


	13. Whose Blade Betrayed

Chapter 13: Whose Blade Betrayed

Assassin leaped backwards in time to avoid the cataclysmic strike aimed towards his cloaked body. He landed on a jutting piece of concrete with unequaled precision, and gave a bewildered stare towards his opponent. She looked to be incredibly young, and her small, frail body was encased in brilliant silver armor that shined in the moonlight. Her green eyes shimmered with resolve and her hands appeared to be gripping something that his eyes could not see. An invisible sword. Behind her was a tall, muscular man who barked at Archer. Assassin could not make out what he said, but Archer's sudden retreat would lead him to believe that he told her to run.

The cloaked killer cursed under his breath. He had them. She was weakened, he could have killed right then and there. But this damned pair had to show up and completely ruin his night. He drew his Liar's Blades, a pair of swords that seemed to have no definite shape, and rippled like water.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked the girl, his voice demanding.

"I am Servant Saber," responded the girl, saying no more.

"Not the talkative type I see," remarked Assassin, "You and that damned ninja have a lot in common then." In an instant, with a sweep of his arm, Assassin flung a torrent of daggers towards Saber, their black shapes sung through the air. However, they were all for not, and Saber simply flicked them aside with her phantom sword. Assassin then leaped towards her, using the knives as a distraction he would move in for the strike, using his superior speed. He had the advantage. Even if she did block his strike, the Liar's Blades would do their work and snake around her defense.

He thrust his right blade, aiming it for the small girl's gut. However, something happened that Assassin did not expect. In one crisp move, Saber sidestepped Assassin's blade and brought her sword down onto his shoulder, Assassin flipped backwards, barely managing to land correctly in his panic. He grasped his shoulder, feeling a faint trickle of blood ebbing from a small wound. She had struck him, but just barely. He managed to avoid a fatal blow, but had he not, he would have been destroyed.

"We know how your blades work, Assassin," said the red coated man, "When an opponent's weapon blocks them, they bend and stretch over the weapon, hitting them regardless of the defense. It's like striking a metal pole with a leather belt. The belt cannot possibly break through the pole, but it will still whip around it, striking anything that's on the other side. However, if that same leather belt is dodged completely, it has nothing to whip around and is completely open to attack."

Assassin felt a hint of panic swell within him. This man had managed to learn how to counter his blades, he had lost his one advantage in this fight. Before he could even think of a plan the silver knight jumped towards him, her speed almost equal to his own and swiped at him with her invisible sword. Assassin jumped backwards again but the girl's onslaught did not cease.

* * *

Shirou felt a great amount of confidence course through his body, Saber had Assassin on the run. He was helpless against her and he knew it, it was only a matter of time before she would be the victorious one in this fight. However, a shiver ran up his spine and without warning a dazzling bolt of light crashed down in front of Saber, uplifting stone and concrete. To his relief, Saber had jumped backwards in time to avoid the strike. He quickly ran to her side, summoning Kanshou and Bakuya to him.

From the smoke of the blast emerged a pair of warriors whose faces were hidden away by masks. The pair were quite intimidating in appearance. One was a young girl wearing a pure white kimono that covered her entire body. In her right hand was a japanese katana, it's blade shimmering in the moonlight like a crystal lake. Her face was hidden away behind a white demonic mask, a hanya mask, and her auburn hair rested on her shoulders. Her partner was a man clad in gunmetal gray armor. His gauntlets were clawed and he wore a brilliant red robe underneath. His face was hidden away as well, a steel helm with crude horns adorning his head. In his hand was a glorious sword, with a pearl white hilt and a wide, shimmering, silver blade. The tip of the sword seemed different than the rest of the blade, being an obsidian black color.

"So," said Shirou, maintaining his confident manner of speech. "Who are you two?"

"It is none of your concern, Emiya Shirou," said the masked girl, "You have been snooping around long enough."

"Ah, you know my name," remarked Shirou with a smile, "Seems like everyone does these days." Shirou looked at the armored man, puzzled. He knew he was a Servant, but he wasn't expecting a Servant like this to appear in the war. What class was he? Lancer? Perhaps even Caster?

"I see you are eying my Servant," said the girl, observing Shirou, "Do not waste your time. He is not of the other classes, he is a Saber, just like yours."

"Another Saber?" exclaimed Shirou, bewildered, "How is that even possible?"

"This grail is far more potent than the ones in the past Emiya. It has more than enough power to accommodate for the abnormal amount of Servants."

"Interesting," said Shirou under his breath. This only made his concerns worse. What could the thief have possibly done to make the Grail this powerful?

Then suddenly, without so much as an order from his Master, the Servant leaped towards Saber, his blade crashing into her, pushing her into the darkness of the street. Her feet dug deep into the concrete, Saber locked blades with the Servant, but his strength was great and she found herself losing ground to the vicious opponent.

Shirou expressed surprise at such an action, he wasn't expecting a Servant to act without orders from it's own Master. Looking at the masked girl, he could see her charging towards him, her blade held high above her head. Shirou quickly blocked the blow and the two engaged in a battle of their own.

Her form was excellent, almost perfect. Her fluid movements and swift strikes were almost impossible for Shirou to track. Almost. Although she was incredibly skilled, her attacks reflected a lack of experience, she had never fought in a pitched battle before. Shirou moved around her blows, dodging slash after slash and parrying with his Kanshou and Bakuya.

"Your technique is perfect, almost flawless," he blocked a vertical slash aimed for his head and locked blades with the masked girl, "But you still have a lot to learn." He pushed her backwards and ran towards her, striking with Kanshou and Bakuya in a synchronized attack. The girl avoided the strikes, managing to jump backwards in time and counter with a horizontal slash aimed for Shirou's midsection. Without so much as an effort, Shirou blocked the blow with his Kanshou.

The girl was silent and her attacks against Shirou did not cease, much to his dismay. She has a lot of determination. But she had no hope of victory against him. Their blades clashed again and again, lighting up the night with showers of sparks. The girl slashed downward, another blow aimed towards Shirou's head. Seeing the strike, Shirou sidestepped and lashed out with Bakuya, the pearl white blade aimed for the girls neck. Stepping slightly backwards the girl managed to avoid the strike, however the blade's edge nicked her neck drawing a small amount of blood.

The masked girl touched her neck in surprise and quickly reoriented herself. Shirou could see it in her eyes. She knew that she was going to lose and that there was no hope for her in this contest. However she continued her assault and locked blades with Shirou once again.

* * *

Saber engaged her masked enemy in an explosive duel of strength and skill. Saber couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia at the blade in her opponent's hand. It felt as if she knew who this warrior was, as if they had known each other in life.

The Servant smashed his blade against Saber's, his strength great enough to launch her backwards through a building. Saber crashed through a stone wall and into the building, rolling on the ground. She barely managed to rise up and parry another strike by the Servant, who had bounded after her. Their blade's locked in a desperate struggle. After exerting much of her own strength, Saber pushed back her attacker, almost managing to slice him across the chest.

However, her foe was relentless, and he continued to slam his sword against her invisible weapon. His fighting style was very familiar, and his movements mimicked Saber's. It was as if the two of them were one and the same, their fighting styles almost identical. The two leaped away from each other simultaneously and held their swords out in front of one another.

"Who are you?" asked Saber, "Your style, sword, armor. I have seen them before."

"So, you've forgotten about me?" said the knight, his voice hollow through his helmet. "My hatred is justified then. Do not attempt speaking to me...King of Knights."

Saber's eyes widened. This Servant had already managed to deduce who she was in life. Who was this Servant? Who could be so knowledgeable in Saber's methods? Before she could dote on it further, the enemy Servant jumped towards Saber, his sword at his side. Saber quickly blocked the incoming blade, holding the vicious Servant at bay.

"Look at you," said the Servant, his helmet in Saber's face, "You call yourself a King? Don't make me laugh. You are no more a king, than the ground beneath my feet!" Saber could feel the sting of her foe's words. She remembered all of her failings, all of the mistakes she made as the ruler of her people. The grip around her sword grew loose as her thoughts began to race with memories of her previous life. Taking advantage of her moment of weakness, the Servant kicked her in the stomach, launching her across the room with his inhuman strength. Saber grasped her belly in pain, her eyes gazing at the Servant as he charged towards her, dragging his sword across the ground.

"You betrayed your people!" yelled the Servant, slamming his sword into Saber's invisible one. Saber desperately tried to defend, but the Servant's words constantly ate at her. "You led your country into destruction!" With one swipe the Servant flung Saber aside, his strike far too powerful for her to block head on. Saber flew through the wall of the building, ending in the middle of the street once again. She struggled to get to her feet, this Servant was far more powerful than she had thought.

The Servant walked through the gaping hole of the building, his sword dragging across the ground lighting up sparks and scarring the concrete. Saber leaped backwards into the air, and landed on the face of a tall building. She knew what had to be done, but she could not risk firing such a powerful technique in a populated area. She would have to lead the other Saber into a place where she could better use it. As planned, the enemy Servant gave chase.

"Hah!" he scoffed, "The King of Knights fleeing from battle?" The two ran across the face of the building as if it were solid ground and in mere seconds, Saber reached the pinnacle of the building. She could feel the enemy Servant quickly approaching so she took her place on the opposite side.

The enemy Servant emerged from the dark and landed on the top of the building, his sword shimmering in the moonlight as he faced Saber. "It is the end of the line, Saber, you have nowhere to run. Accept your fate. You are to be killed, here and now!"

In an instant, Saber's invisible blade began to glow a bright, exuberant yellow and lifted the veil of invisibility. In her hands was grasped a beautiful sword, almost unequaled in it's magnificence. The dazzling sword charged itself with an unbelievable power, one that shook the ground and caused the air itself to howl. Saber could not see the Servant's face behind that mask, but she felt safe in assuming that it had a look of surprise plastered across it. This was it, her victory was near.

However, the enemy Servant's sword began to glow as well. In fact it glowed just as brightly as Saber's own sword, a bright scarlet light enveloped it and swirled around the blade of the sword.

"I have been waiting for this!" exclaimed the Servant loudly, "Now we will see who the true King is!"

Saber quickly brought her sword down in one fluid motion, yelling, "**Excalibur!**"And from the tip of her radiant sword shot forth a pristine yellow light of unbelievable power. The roof of the building shook and tiles were destroyed and uplifted as the gargantuan light shot towards her armored foe.

The enemy Servant, brought his blade down as well, yelling words that were all too familiar to Saber, "**Clarent!**" From the Servant's blade erupted a dazzling scarlet light that collided with Saber's powerful blast. The power of the two strike's collision was so powerful that the Servants were knocked backwards into the air as an explosion, mammoth in size, engulfed the entirety of the roof.

Saber, flipping wildly through the air, managed to just barely land on the edge of a building opposite of where she was. However, she was not worried about falling. A far more frightening thought had taken hold of her. Clarent. She knew that sword. When she was alive the sword was very special to her and her knights. It was the sword used for knighting ceremonies. A blade that was stolen many years ago by one man. A man who used it to bring about the end of her kingdom and mortally wound her.

She looked up at the smoke and fire rising from the top of the building where they had battled. Emerging from the blackened smoke was the Servant. Clarent grasped tightly in his hand as he stared at Saber with an unending hatred.

"Mordred," said Saber, a tear running down her eye, "Is that you?"

The Servant paused momentarily, removing his helm and revealing his true appearance. He was exactly as Saber had remembered him. Young and handsome. His features were very similar to her own, and he looked more like a woman than an actual man. His eyes shimmered as the moonlight bounced off his brilliant green irises.

"It is I...Father." A silence passed between the two as they looked at one another. Through Mordred's eyes Saber could see an burning, intense hatred. An emotion unparalleled. Without another word, he lifted his sword and chanted, "Carnwennan." Swiping his blade in a horizontal arc in front of him, the brilliant sword sent out a crescent shaped white light that shot towards Saber with the speed of a bullet. Saber jumped out of the way, barely managing to avoid the slash. But that was not the end, three more crescents shot towards her, slicing through the midnight air with unimaginable speed. Majestically handling her sword, Saber managed to block two of the crescents but the third sung through a part of her arm, drawing a sizable amount of blood.

She fell to the floor, a river of blood flowing from her arm. Carnwennan. She remembered that name as well. Mordred stood composed a mere few feet away from Saber, pointing the tip of his sword towards her. "Rhongomyniad," he said, and in an instant the tip of the sword extended forth, stretching like rubber. Saber rose to her feet and deflected the incoming blade, only to have it reorient itself to attack her once again. It was like a serpent, a living creature hellbent on striking it's target, however Saber would not give it the satisfaction. She beat back the blows, as the razor sharp tip collided into her brilliant sword. With a roar, she slammed the flat of her blade against the flailing tip of steel and sent it back to it's master.

Mordred merely gazed at Saber with furrowed brows. Saber breathed heavily, tired from exhausting so much energy in the battle.

"You recognize those names don't you?" asked Mordred, "Clarent, Carnwennan, Rhonogmyniad. You should, they once belonged to you." Saber's eyes widened, the memories of the weapons returning to her. "You prized your sword more, and they were cast aside. Forgotten until I stole them away and combined them into this blade! More than a match for your precious Excalibur! A Noble Phantasm that is three in one!" With that Mordred raised his sword above his head, "It is time for you to finally die!" Clarent began to glow a brilliant red color and the air around Mordred began form a violent cyclone.

Saber raised Excalibur, it's magnificent blade glowing with an intense, yellow light. She was speechless. What was she supposed to say to such hatred? What could she possibly do to stop someone so angry? Someone so hellbent on her destruction? Suddenly, before the two could bring their swords down, Mordred disappeared in a explosion of light. The light of Excalibur died down as Saber, watched on, puzzled. From behind her emerged Shirou, unscathed from his battle with the masked girl.

"She retreated," he said, "I managed to get her across the arm, she probably didn't want to take any chances and called him back to help her escape and tend to her wounds."

Saber was silent. Mordred. The one who had betrayed her country. The one who rose against her and wounded her in battle. The one whom she had hoped never to see again.

"Is something wrong Saber?" asked Shirou, worry spreading through his face. He looked at the gruesome wound across her arm. "Are you hurt? Are you okay?"

"It is nothing," replied Saber, with a false smile.

* * *

Mordred found himself standing in the middle of a dark alley, Clarent held high above his head. Before him stood his Master, Natsumi, grasping her shoulder tightly as blood flowed down her kimono.

"Why did you call me back?" yelled Mordred, displeased at what had occurred.

"Why else would I have called you back?" replied Natsumi flatly, "I am wounded. Would you rather we lose the war due to a little blood loss?"

"I don't give a damn about you mages and your stupid war! I care only for that Saber! I want to see her pay for what she has done!"

"And what exactly has she done pray tell?"

"It is a business that is not yours to know little mage girl! And I would suggest you stop sticking your nose into someones affairs. Lest you want that pretty nose of yours to be cut off!" The Servant quickly disappeared into his spirit form, as if he were never there at all.

Natsumi sighed under her breath. After all of the years she had spent training she was still no match for her father. She was not even close to him in terms of skill or magecraft. She felt ashamed. What would he think of her if he found out? She had to prove herself to her parents that she was a strong magus worthy of their name. She knew what to do. She had to become stronger and she knew someone that could help.


	14. The Worms Consume

Chapter 14: The Worms Consume

Natsumi opened the door to the dark, hellish basement. Her footsteps echoed as she walked down the twisting, winding shadow. A rank, disgusting smell filled her lungs but she did not mind, after all she had been smelling it for the past few weeks. At first, the stench was bothersome, and she could barely stand it. Now, it was soothing in an odd way. As she neared the bottom of the stairs, there to greet her was the cloaked Assassin, his arm bleeding slightly from an earlier wound. His large body towered over her, and from afar he seemed like a giant in comparison.

"Thank you," he said, "If you and your Servant had not arrived, it would have been the end." The tall, cloaked killer bowed to her in a respectful manner.

"Do not mistaken my rescue for an act of kindness," said Natsumi coldly.

"Yes," replied the cloaked man, "Of course. My Master awaits you inside." In an instant he disappeared into the dark.

Natsumi continued into the room, brushing her auburn hair aside and checking her wound. The gems she used were working excellently, it was closing well and barely noticeable at all. It worried her at first, the depth being considerable. However her father was holding back. She could see it in his eyes. Did he know it was her? No, he couldn't have.

She did not walk very far until she was confronted by the old man. Standing amidst his sea of decaying, disgusting worms. He looked up at her from the bottom of the basement and did not so much as even twitch a muscle on his wrinkled face.

"Ah, Natsumi," he said with a warm voice, "Welcome home." The old man walked out of the tide of worms, as if it were not disgusting in the least, and climbed up a set of stairs to meet her. "I apologize for putting a damper on our plans. Your father is quite the annoyance."

"Do not speak about him in such a way!" snapped Natsumi, "My father is a great man!"

The old man smiled slyly, "Whatever you say child." He paced in front of her, his hand on his chin. "We will be moving in a weeks time at best. We cannot call this place safe as long as that traitor is out there."

"A week? Should we not be moving sooner? We cannot underestimate our foe."

"Do not worry my child. I have Assassin and our...other Servant, out there as we speak. He cannot hide for long. Besides, we have yet to find the ideal sanctuary."

"Very well. What would you have me do in the meantime?"

"For now, I want you to stay here. No use in parading our trump card around. Best to bide our time. If tonight has showed us anything it's that we are fighting this war on three separate fronts."

The old man was right. Their resources were spread thin. The traitor, her father and her brother. Three separate people they had to keep their eyes on. Three very real threats.

Her father wasn't just excellent in the use of projection, he quite literally turned it into a devastating art. The fact that he also has Saber alongside him makes him the biggest threat in the war so far. Not only is he capable of fighting with excellent form but his Servant is one of, if not the, strongest Servant in the war. Her brother was a poor mage, but Archer's presence made him all the more threatening, especially with the performance she gave out in her multiple battles.

The traitor's whereabouts are unknown. And that is what scared Natsumi the most. She knew almost nothing about this person and thus she could not accurately gauge the power he possessed. Her thoughts were interrupted with Zouken's raspy voice.

"Speaking of them. Assassin has told me something very peculiar about your brother."

"What about that fool is so worthy of our time? As far as I'm concerned the only one we need to worry about is Archer."

"True, that is what I initially thought as well. But what Assassin has told me is troubling news. You told me that he was incapable of using magecraft, correct?"

"His circuits are unstable. Frayed, for lack of a better term. He cannot cast magic without his body literally imploding on itself. He's useless in that regard. My parent's always coddled him"

"Not anymore."

"What?" A hint of surprise spread across Natsumi's normally blank face. What could the old man possibly be talking about?

"From Assassin's given description, he funnels prana into the circuits of a certain body part. In this case it was his arm. The backlash causes a powerful explosion of prana to erupt from the arm and also engulf whatever he is touching at the time."

"It is basically like a directed weapon of mass destruction. A suicide bomb."

"Correct. It seems we have far more to fear from your brother than just Archer. Thankfully he is wounded at the moment, and we won't be seeing him or Archer in the near future."

"Why don't we just hunt him down and kill him now? You could send me and Mordred. The task would be a simple one!"

"So eager to shed blood," remarked the old man with a snicker, "No. Scouring the city for those two would be a waste of time. Chasing that Archer would be like trying to find a specific shadow in a cave of darkness."

"Very well," replied Natsumi, disappointed. She turned to leave, but stopped in her tracks.

"Yes? Something on your mind?" Asked the old man, curious.

"My father," said Natsumi, "When I was fighting him. I was no match. I could barely keep up with him. My powers are too weak."

"So you desire more?" The old man smiled after asking, "I can provide you such an increase in power. Although..." He pointed to the pit of wriggling worms, "It will be very painful."

Natsumi looked at the worms. The squirming tsunami of filth in the pit below her. A normal girl would feel fear. A normal girl would feel disgust. Natsumi felt none of those things. She only felt one thing. Desire. The desire for power. She had to show her parents what she was capable of. Nothing else mattered. She would be worthy of the Emiya name. She would the greatest magus in the world, no matter the cost.

"I'll do it," she said without hesitation, "How do we go about this process?"

"It is simple really. You stay within the pit, and the worms will do their work."

"How long do I need to stay for me to gain the power I need?"

The old man rubbed his chin, "A few days or so."

"Very well."

"Let us begin then," said the old man with a disgusting smile, "You will be a fine breeding ground for them, my girl."

* * *

Rin got up with a start, her eyes gazing rapidly at her surroundings. She was in her house, lying in an expansive bed. Her bed to be exact. What had happened? The last thing she remembered was running into Servant Caster. How was she still alive? She was sure that Cerberus had her. Rin shook her head and got up from the bed, her right sleeve stained with dry blood and filled with holes from the wound.

Who did this? Was all she could think of. Who had the skill and ability to heal a wound as severe as that?

"So you're up," said a familiar voice.

Rin immediately turned to it's direction and saw someone she would never have expected, "You?"

"Yep, didn't expect me now did you?" There before Rin stood a man she never would have thought to be in the new war. A man she had once hated with every fiber of her being.

Shinji Matou. The boy who had almost killed her and Shirou in the last grail war. The one who had made a pact with their enemy and had almost done the unspeakable to Rin. For all intents and purposes Rin should hate him, although he had promised to better his life, what he had done could never be taken back.

His wavy blue hair was exactly the way it was all those years ago, but his garb and method of dress were entirely different. Possibly because Rin had only ever seen him wear his school uniform. He wore a dark violet beret on his head, the color of his hair contrasting fairly well to it's color. His body was also dressed in a uniform of matching violet with a orange tie around his neck. His dress pants were of a pristine white and a white glove with a peculiar symbol was on his right hand.

"Ten years," said Shinji, "It's been a long time. Too long."

"What are you doing here?" demanded Rin, "Get out of my house!"

"Calm down Tohsaka," replied Shinji with an insulted expression. "Is that really how you treat your savior?"

Rin could not believe what she was hearing. Him save her? Preposterous. Shinji was a coward and would always be a coward. He was incapable of magecraft and his deeds in the last grail war were hardly worth mentioning.

"You expect me to believe that?" mocked Rin, "And how could you, a nonmagus, have saved me?" She began to chuckle under her breath.

"A lot can happen in ten years Tohsaka," said Shinji, his eyebrows furrowed in an attempt to hide away his annoyance. "It wasn't just me y'know, I had some help."

"And who would that be? I'm surprised that you even got help at all, being the filth that you are."

From seemingly nowhere appeared a tall, gorgeous plum haired woman. Her hair was unbelievably long, and it nearly touched the ground with it's tips. She wore a pitch black, skin tight garb around her elegant body and her eyes were hidden away by a purple blindfold. Rin recognized her as the Rider from the last war. A servant whom Shinji had controlled, but died before Rin could even see what she was capable of. She stood in the corner of her room, stalwart and emotionless.

"Her? How is that possible? A second Rider?" Rin was astonished at what she was witnessing. How was it possible that a second Rider could exist in the war? She had seen the current one not too many days ago. It was true that Assassin told her that he had been slain, but that did not mean another Servant of the same class could be summoned so easily.

"I have a lot to tell you Rin," said Shinji with a somber expression, "This war is far more than you think."

"What are you talking about? More than I think? I do believe a second rate Master like yourself is in no position to be giving me a lesson of any kind!"

"Will you shut up and listen!" yelled Shinji, his normally flamboyant voice, booming and intimidating. In an instant Rin quieted down, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"Fine," she agreed reluctantly, "What is it?"

"My grandfather, Matou Zouken is behind this war. I don't know how, but he managed to rebuild the grail system of Fuyuki. I don't fully understand the process but he managed to recreate it by finding a small hint of the original grail's corruption."

"Even if I were to believe you," said Rin, an unbelieving scowl on her face, "How would he have recreated the grail from so little? Even if your grandfather was some magical genius he would need far more than those components to recreate something as expansive as the Grail."

"Exactly," he said, "That's where the stolen documents of it's dismantling comes in. I don't know how he got them, but he used them to help in his attempts. From what I've seen so far, he succeeded. This grail is also far more powerful than the one ten years ago. It is strong enough to maintain far more Servants than normally possible. It's like this Grail has no limitations and no rules."

"I see," said Rin, "That would explain why two Riders are present in this war."

"Correct. My grandfather managed to resurrect her using an odd form of magic I could not understand. She has been in our house watching over my sister for the past ten years."

"How? Who is this Zouken? How could he have the power to perform such a thing?"

"I have no idea. However, I did manage to convince Rider to leave with me and betray my grandfather's regime."

"Why did you even need to? Weren't you Rider's original Master anyway?"

"No, I was far from Rider's original Master. In fact, I'm not even her Master currently."

"What are you talking about?"

"Sakura was her original Master. I...I tried freeing her from my grandfather's torturous hold. It was the least I could do for her." Shnji's fists clenched, "After all of the suffering he has put her through...all of the suffering I had put her through. She deserves better."

Rin's heart had almost given out upon hearing Shinji's story. Sakura, once her sister, was forced to live a life of pain. Whoever this Zouken was, Rin knew he was nothing more than a twisted mass of evil. The very thought that her younger sister, one who she had watched for so long, was forced to live through such torment, forced tears to her eyes. Rin herself felt she was at fault. She had watched her sister for so long, and then just abandons her for ten years. How could she call herself a sister, or a person even?

"Did you succeed?" asked Rin, trying to hide her tears.

"Sadly, no. After coming to an agreement with Sakura, Rider became my Servant. Together we managed to escape the house. We've been on the run, hiding in the city ever since. We've ran into Assassin multiple times and have almost managed to elude him."

"I'm surprised Rider has managed to stay in this world as long as she has. I don't recall you having any sort of magical ability."

"I don't," replied Shinji, "But you do."

"What?"

"The entire reason I obtained the Command Spells was so I could give them to you. With your mana supplying Rider, allowing her to fight at full potential would be fairly easy for you to accomplish."

"How would we even go about exchanging the Command Spells. I was under the impression that only those chosen to be Master's would be able to take another Master's Spells."

"True, but as I said before this Grail's rules are a lot more flexible. Wouldn't hurt to try. Besides even if we fail, it'll be me who ends up crippled not you."

Rin paused for a moment and after a few minutes nodded in agreement. "Alright, let's begin."

With one swift movement, Shinji held out his left arm. On it, there was a bright red symbol, the Command Spells. Mimicking his movements, Rin held out her right hand, it's fingers almost touching Shinji's. In a flash, a bright light shot forth between the two of them and Shinji grunted in pain. Rin knew what he was feeling, having the Command Spells removed from ones body was a painful experience, it would be akin to having your armed ripped off.

After a few minutes the bright light subsided and there on Rin's right hand was a Command Spell. She looked over at Shinji, who was now grasping his left arm, it was probably throbbing with unbelievable agony. Rider herself seemed to express discomfort at Shinji's pain, but she refused to even move an inch from where she was. Just by looking at her, Rin could feel their connection, and Rider's power was far more than Rin ever realized. She must have been holding back in the previous war due to Shinji's lack of circuits, but now the power within her was vast and incredible to behold.

"Did it work?" asked Shinji, gritting his teeth, "Please tell me it worked."

"It did," responded Rin.

"Good."

"Why me Shinji?" asked Rin. She was curious as to why Shinji picked her of all people. She could swear that he would have picked Shirou or someone else for the job. Even though she was an excellent magus, Rin and Shinji weren't exactly on speaking terms after what happened all those years ago.

"It wasn't me who picked you Tohsaka. It was Sakura."

"Sakura? But why? Why would she pick me? I failed her. I left her there for ten years even when I promised that I would save her."

"She wants you to fulfill that promise. Don't let her down."

"I won't," exclaimed Rin, a fiery determination in her blue eyes. She wasn't going to let anything happen to Sakura anymore. With Rider and Shinji's help, she would defeat Zouken and free her from his clutches.

"Alright, lets get a move on. The war is going on as we speak."

"What are you talking about? You're no magus, what can you possibly do during this battle?"

"I'm no slouch Tohsaka," said Shinji with a confident smile, "I'm not the prissy coward I was ten years ago. I've learned a lot from my ten years in Atlas."

Rin's eyes widened in astonishment, "Atlas? The Giant's Pit? The greatest branch of alchemical knowledge in the Mages Association?"

"That's right. I'm an alchemist of Atlas."

"How did you go about doing that? Even if most alchemists there have no circuits I sincerely doubt they let someone of your caliber into their ranks so easily."

"Perhaps later. It's a long story. For now, let's focus on getting Sakura back."

"Very well, you can keep your secrets," said Rin with a huff, "What do I care?"

"Still the same after all these years."

The two's conversation was interrupted by an abrupt thud coming from the front door. In an instant Rin pulled out a set of gems only to be greeted with a sight that turned her a pale white. There before her was Archer, holding her blood drenched son. His left arm was nothing more than a stump, and the sheer amount of gore covering the two was a terrible sight to behold.

"Please," said Archer, "Help him."


	15. Memories of Spring

Chapter 15: Memories of Spring

It was a beautiful day. The sun shining down onto the earth like a benevolent god beaming with happiness. Hisashi did not know where he was, what he was doing. All he knew was that he was seeing something, events, transpiring before him. What they were he did not know, but he felt as if it was something he _should_ know. Before him was a large, beautiful patch of pristine grassland. The quiet wind delicately blew over the grass, making the individual blades dance in the sunlight.

Hisashi saw, no it was more like his eyes were guided, towards a large house standing atop a hill in the middle of the plain. The house was incredibly beautiful and it reminded him very much of his own home, albeit much more detailed and colorful. It looked very much like an ancient home of old, a feudal age house to be more precise. Hisashi could make out two figures sitting on the porch of the house and he found himself walking closer to them to make out who they were.

One was a girl. A girl that Hisashi recognized. Her long, raven hair surrounded her like a blanket and her sapphire eyes glimmered as the sunlight bounced off of them. It was Archer, a broad, happy smile on her face. Hisashi tried to speak, but no voice came from his mouth. In fact she did not even seem to notice him, it was as if he weren't there at all.

The other one was a man. He looked to be incredibly young himself, just a few years older than Hisashi. His hair was a pitch black like Archer's and his eyes were of a dark brown. The man had his head on Archer's lap, and he stared at her with a love that even Hisashi could sense. The two laughed, although Hisashi did not know what for. Archer's delicate fingers ran through the man's hair and the two shared a kiss, Hisashi found himself entranced by the display. Was this really the Archer that he knew? She seemed completely different from the way she was now. In fact, what was he seeing? Was he seeing Archer's life before she became a Servant?

In an instant, the couple shot up from their position and a look of worry spread across their faces. From across the plain was a group of horseman. From the looks of it, they were samurai. Their armor was varying in color and there were at least thirty of them, all riding side by side. They stopped their horses just in front of the two's home and the man walked over to meet them, a concerned look on his face. Dismounting his steed the lead samurai, his armor a bright red, bowed and held a slip of paper for the man to see. Looking over at Archer the man spoke a few words, Hisashi himself could not hear what he had said but whatever it was it did not seem good. A tear ran down Archer's cheek, but she simply bowed and stood where she was like a statue. From there the man went into his home, disappearing for what seemed like ages.

Archer herself seemed to not care and her sapphire eyes reflected a cold, almost resentful expression. Emerging from the home was the man, now fully clad in black and green armor. At his side was a pair of swords one smaller than the other, both sheathed in black scabbards. He bowed towards Archer, who payed him no attention and a single horse emerged from the legion of samurai. Mounting the horse, the man looked at Archer one last time, before riding off with the samurai. As they left her sights, Archer fell to her knees and wept.

Without warning the entire landscape changed and the sky turned a blood red. His body forcefully turned him around and Hisashi was staring the corpse of a dead man. His body lay limp and there before him was Archer, her face smeared with the blood of her victim. Her face was cold, unfeeling and emotionless. In her hand was a ninjato, a black sword that reflected the shadows around her.

* * *

Hisashi's eyes opened in an instant, and he was greeted by the pitch black, darkness of the room. He tried to get up, but found that his left arm was completely gone. Instead of an arm, there was a stump where his elbow once was. He punched his soft futon repeatedly and began cursing under his breath. How was he going to live without an arm? What was he supposed to do? Was it all for nothing? Was Archer safe at least? The numerous questions spiraled throughout his head like a hurricane of doubt. He held the stump with his right hand and sighed.

"You are awake," said a voice from the shadows. Emerging from the dark was Archer, her black hair seemed almost invisible in the black room. However, her blue eyes shined as beautifully as ever.

"Yeah, I guess so," said Hisashi, his voice raspy.

"Are you feeling well?" asked Archer with her usual monotone.

"As well as a guy with one arm can feel," Hisashi joked, it was the best he could do to calm himself down. He was still rather tired from what had happened and the invasive thoughts spiraling through his head did nothing to help him.

"I do not know if that is a good thing."

"It is, don't worry about it so much."

"I see," replied Archer, "It was just that you were tossing and turning in your sleep. I had thought something was bothering you."

"It's nothing. I was just having a bad dream. A weird dream."

Archer paused for a moment and quickly asked, "What did you see?"

"Huh?" queried Hisashi, taken aback by the sudden question, "I didn't really see anything, I mean it was just a dre-"

"What did you see?" interrupted Archer, her voice reflecting the impatience growing within her.

"Well, I saw a house...It looked kind of like this one but it was a little bit bigger. Then I saw...you."

"Me?"

"Yeah and a guy. He was laying down in your lap."

Archer's eyes narrowed and she grew silent. Her fists clenched and she seemed to be growing increasingly irritated at Hisashi.

"Then suddenly these samurai appeared out of nowhere," continued Hisashi, "They showed him a paper and then he rode off with them. He said something but I didn't really hear what."

"I'm sorry Chiyome," whispered Archer to herself.

"What?"

"I'm sorry Chiyome," repeated Archer, a bit louder than before, "That's what he said to me." Hisashi could make out tears forming in Archer's eyes, but she did not seem to even notice.

"Who was he?"

"Are you ordering me to tell you Master?"

"No, I mean, it's none of my business but I think I deserve to know a thing or two about my Servant. A Servant who I just lost an arm for mind you."

Archer was silent and she turned her back, facing the window where a crack of shimmering moonlight flowed into the dark room. "Very well. I guess it is only fair." Archer was silent for a moment, and after a few seconds continued, "He was my husband."

Hisashi almost gasped in surprise, "Your husband?" He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Archer didn't seem like the kind of girl who would want to settle down, she seemed more of the fighter type.

"Yes. He was a lord and those samurai you saw were his men."

"Must've been something," said Hisashi, trying to ease the tension, "Being the wife of a lord."

"It was luxurious if that is what you are implying. But all of the grandeur didn't matter to me. I loved him and he loved me, that was all I really needed."

"Wait, so why did he leave you then? I'm pretty sure a guy like that wouldn't leave that easy."

"I wish it were so. One day, he was called to war by the ruling daimyo."

"And just like that he left? What kind o-"

"Do not question his loyalties," barked Archer, breaking her usual calm, "You know nothing of him!"

Hisashi was still for a few minutes, averting Archer's cold stare, "I'm sorry...What happened to him?"

"He died in battle."

"He...He died?"

"People are killed everyday. Some deserve it, some do not. It is our job to not let their deaths effect us. A ninja feels nothing and should always feel nothing."

"Don't give me that bullshit!" yelled Hisashi, "I mean, I may be stupid but even I can tell when someone is in pain? How can you just sit there and tell me that crap? It's insulting! Not just to me but to your husband!"

"How dare you!"

"No! How dare yo-" In an instant, the wind was knocked out of Hisashi and he fell to the floor with a loud thud. He had just been struck across the face by Archer. It was painful, but Hisashi didn't care. He had felt worse.

"You forget your place magus! Now be quiet!"

"Look at you," said Hisashi, wiping a faint stream of blood from his mouth, "You tell me to never let my emotions get the better of me and yet what has your entire life been? Yet every day of your life has been run by emotion! Don't lie to me Archer! What exactly did you feel that day!"

Without a word Archer delivered an explosive kick into Hisashi's stomach, causing the boy to roll into a ball on the floor as he was pummeled. The punishment continued for what seemed like ages to Hisashi until finally Archer dropped to her knees and wept into her own hands. Hisashi had never seen this side of her, and frankly, it was enough to make him feel a great sense of remorse.

"I felt...sadness," said Archer, her voice so quiet it was almost a whisper, "The last emotion I would ever feel. I became a merciless killer. I didn't feel scared, lonely, happy. Most of all, I never felt sad ever again. The only thing I knew was death and I liked it. Every time I killed, every time I saw death it made my husbands death all the more miniscule."

"That doesn't excuse anything," said Hisashi flatly, "Do you think he would want for you to be like this? Do you think he would want you do go about your life acting as if he never even happened?"

"No, he wouldn't have." The two stood quietly in the room, Hisashi rose up, using his one arm to pull himself back onto his futon. He lay staring at the ceiling while Archer sat on the floor next to him, her gaze never leaving the floor. "The funny thing is," whispered Archer, "You remind me of him."

"You don't say?" said Hisashi with a smirk, hoping to ease the tension, "How's that? I don't think someone as lazy as me could replace a guy like that."

"Perhaps one day, I'll tell you."

"I'll hold you to that promise." He turned to face Archer and gave her a warm smile.

"Go back to sleep," ordered Archer, "That beating I gave you probably set your healing back a few days."

"Whatever you say," With that Hisashi closed his eyes, "Good night Chiyome."

"Good night, Hisashi." Archer gave him a radiant smile and her eyes twinkled like stars.


	16. Warzone

Chapter 16: Warzone

Hisashi's eyes strained open, greeted by the pristine white light of the moon shining through the window. He struggled to rise from his futon, every muscle in his body sore and strained. Looking around him it was as if nothing had changed. His room was the same as it always was and the comforter that he laid on was the same one that he always fell into day after day. But he would be a fool to think such a thing. Nothing was the same, in fact his entire life had changed.

He was trapped in a war between Servants, a war that he never wanted to be part of. His left arm was now completely nonexistent, torn away from his body in the most painful way imaginable. He didn't know what to think about it. He had always thought he would sail through life aimlessly, content with the worthlessness he had always associated with himself, but now everyone was counting on him for reasons unknown to himself. Archer, his mother and maybe even Natsumi. Just thinking about it made his stomach churn.

The door creaked open and a small sliver of light slipped through and into the room. His mother, Rin, peaked around the door, a relieved smile on her face.

"You're awake," she said, Hisashi could make out small tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Yeah, I guess I am," replied Hisashi, his voice was raspy and worn out. He was a lot more tired than he thought.

Rin walked into the room, her footsteps tapped across the wooden floor. She took her son in her arms and held him close to her. Hisashi was taken aback, she had never done this before and quite frankly it was a little disturbing.

"You're not Assassin are you?" he asked.

"Of course not!" yelled Rin, her eyebrow twitching with a contained rage, "Isn't it a mother's job to be worried about her own son! Don't think this excuses your stupid decision though!" She was the real deal alright.

"I'm sorry," said Hisashi, recoiling from his mother's wrath, "Can't be too careful is all." The two laughed together and the smile on his mother's face helped relieve some of the building pressure that was on Hisashi's shoulders.

"How is your arm?" asked Rin.

"It's fine, I guess. It'll take some getting used to, but I can live with it."

"That's good to hear." Hisashi could tell that talking about his arm gave Rin a great deal of discomfort but she hid it away, probably hoping that she wouldn't upset him any further.

"How long was I asleep?" he asked, changing the subject.

"About three days."

"Three days?"

"That's correct. I was a little surprised myself, but it makes sense seeing as how grievous your wounds were."

"How bad was it?"

"You are better off not knowing."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

Hisashi brought up his left arm, or what was left of it, and simply stared at the blank stump. Rin placed her soft hand onto it and helped him up onto his feet.

"Come on," she said, "I've made dinner and it's about time you got yourself something to eat."

"Now that you say it, I am a bit hungry," said Hisashi, chuckling.

Before they could leave, Hisashi's head perked up and asked, "Where's Natsumi?"

He could see his mother shiver and she simply gave him a worried stare.

"What happened to her?" Hisashi was in a panic, did she get hurt? Did Assassin get to her? "Is she okay? Where is she?"

"It's fine Hisashi," said Rin, struggling to smile, "She's with your father right now."

"Father was here? When did he get here?"

"Just a few days ago, he took Natsumi with him. We figured that we would be able to watch over the two of you better."

Hisashi looked at his mother's face closely. He could tell she was lying. If father had visited she would be in an unbelievably good mood, instead, she was somber and on edge. He didn't want to push his luck however, it was obvious she wasn't going to give him a straight answer.

"Makes sense," he said, smiling.

The two left and Hisashi followed her into the dining room only to jump at the sight of a pair of odd looking strangers. One was dressed almost entirely in violet, with the exception of his pants while the other was a beautiful, tall woman dressed in a revealing black outfit.

He stuttered in a panic, "Wh-Wh-Who the hell are you two?"

"They are some...Old friends of mine," said Rin, hesitating for a moment before saying the word Friend.

"How's it going Hisashi-kun. Your mother here's been going on and on and on about you ever since-" Rin shot him a cold stare and he flinched before saying, "Anyway my name's Shinji Matou. You must have heard all about me, being the awesome guy that I am."

"No, not really."

"Oh, well...Oh come on really?"

"I tend to keep murderous perverts out of my children's bed time stories," said Rin with a smirk.

"Whatever," said Shinji, sitting back down into the table dejected.

"Who is this?" Hisashi looked over at the woman in black. She had an air of mystery about her, and Hisashi himself couldn't help but feel, afraid of her.

"She is Rider, my new Servant," said Rin.

"Servant?" gasped Hisashi, "Wait, your a Master now? Isn't there already a Rider?"

"This Rider is the one from the previous war. From what Shinji has told me, this new Grail has enough power to fuel thousands of Servants. It is, in a sense, a superior system."

"Wait, so, if this Rider is from the last war, how has she managed to stay in our world for so long?"

"It's a long story Hisashi," said Rin with a bored expression, "We'll be here for ages if I tried to explain it."

"Yeah, yeah I get it." Hisashi looked around for a moment, "Where's Archer?"

"She's right behind you."

Hisashi turned around and there was Archer, standing as stoic as ever. He jumped in his seat, completely taken by surprise at Archer's sudden appearance.

"Holy shit! You scared me!" he yelled.

"Don't be such a drama queen Hisashi," said Rin over Shinji's laughter, "Now go and eat your din-" Rin's head perked up, and a panic began to spread throughout her body. Hisashi could see it bright as day, and so did Shinji.

"Somebody's here," said Shinji, his face was serious and his eyebrows furrowed, "We need to get out of the-"

Before Shinji could finish his sentence the walls of the home tore open. Archer grabbed Hisashi and jumped out of the way. Splinters of wood and plaster shot throughout the dining room, it was like a bomb had just gone off. Standing in the middle of the gaping hole in the wall was a warrior garbed entirely in black armor. In his left hand was a cracked, red shield and in the other was a huge sword that glowed a violent bright red.

Looking around him Hisashi could see that the others had narrowly avoided the enemy's violent attack. In an instant Archer drew her sword, but it's shape did not change. She looked at it for a moment, puzzled.

Rider herself drew a pair of long, menacing nails attached to long lengths of chain and proceeded to throw it at the black warrior. However, something happened that shocked Hisashi. What should have been a direct hit, deliberately avoided the black warrior's body. It was like the nails had a mind of their own and that they chose not to strike at the warrior.

From behind the black warrior appeared a cloaked figure that Hisashi had become all too familiar with.

"Nice to see you again," said Assassin, he turned his head to face Shinji, "Well, well, well if it isn't the traitor."

"Shut it!" yelled Shinji.

"As snake tongued as always," Assassin chuckled, "You should know better than to place your trust in someone like him, Tohsaka. If he betrayed me and my Master, what do you think he is going to do to you?"

Rin merely smirked at Assassin's statement, "I don't trust Shinji as far as I can throw him. But to be honest, I trust you even less."

Assassin was quiet for a moment and then suddenly burst into laughter, "Smart girl. You must feel so proud of yourself for that comment don't you?"

"Of course I do. Please, go on with your flattery."

"You must feel so superior, so powerful. Not powerful enough though. Not even the great Tohsaka could save her son from becoming a one armed, useless freak!"

With that one sentence Rin's confidence melted away. She was silent, trying desperately to find the words that would help her turn this argument to her favor, but to no avail.

"Hey! You shut the hell up, asshole!" yelled Hisashi, "Don't you dare talk to my mother like that!"

"Oh, it's you. Don't worry little boy, I haven't forgotten about you."

In a split second a shower of knives shot out of Assassin's cloak and rained down on Hisashi. Archer jumped between them and deflected the blades with her sword, sending them back at Assassin who drew his own pair of rippling blades and deflected them back at Archer. The blades traveled back and forth between the two, like a deadly game of tennis. It was a beautiful display with sparks and the din of metal slamming against metal ringing throughout the now ruined house.

The black warrior struck out at Rider who simply weaved and snaked around his blows, her body was lithe and flexible and Hisashi found himself entranced by her movements. She stabbed at the warrior, but her daggers would suddenly change direction and avoid him completely. The warrior's sword, missing Rider over and over again, would slice into the walls of the house like butter, splintering wood and sending a shower of debris every which way.

It was like hundreds of bombs were going off in Hisashi's home and he found himself dragged away by the collar. It was his mother, who was shouting something that he could not quite hear. She dragged him outside, probably to get him away from the chaos and the pair were followed by a shaken Shinji and their respective Servants.

* * *

Archer jumped to Hisashi's side and Rider soon appeared beside Rin. Their two foes clambered out of the ruined household, kicking away the debris at their feet.

"As you can see," said Assassin, "Me and my associate are far too much for you and your petty Servants to handle."

"I know who that is," said Rin, "That's Kijiro's Rider isn't it!"

"It was Kijiro's Rider. The key word being _was_." Assassin chuckled to himself.

"How? How could you corrupt a Servant in such a way!"

"Because of Sakura," spoke up Shinji.

"What?" asked Rin, taken by surprise.

"I did not tell you this, mostly because it would only hurt you. But Sakura, is less than a human now. She has been completely corrupted by the Grail."

Rin's fists clenched, she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"I'm sorry that you had to hear it from me of all people. But it is the reason I became an alchemist after all. I wanted to release her from her torment. The torment that my Grandfather has put her through."

"Look at you two," mocked Assassin, "So righteous. A loving family indeed. But you are too late. Your precious Sakura is past redeeming. She is nothing but a monst-"

Before Assassin could finish his sentence, Rider swiftly threw her pair of giant nails at him, stabbing him in the arm. Assassin screamed out in pain and tried to pry it out of his body, but to no avail. She lifted him from the ground and spun him around like a rag doll, slamming him into the dirt and grass repeatedly.

"She is not a monster. Your Master is the monster and I will make sure he lets Sakura go. If it is the last thing I ever do." Rider pulled Assassin to her, the cloaked Servant forcibly dragged along by the chains, and landed a powerful knee into his masked face. The blow was so powerful that it's impact echoed throughout the dark night.

"Help me you fool!" yelled Assassin to the Altered Rider, who simply stood there watching the beating.

In a split second the black warrior moved like lightning, crossing the patio towards Rider in a split second. However, Archer intercepted him, attempting to slash him across the belly with her sword. However, her black blade arced around the black soldier and his body, as if it were avoiding him. He lashed out at her and his black sword narrowly missed the lithe ninja's neck as it sung through the air.

Archer leaped backwards, she knew that she could not defeat this corrupt warrior with brute force alone. Her sword itself refused to change shape, probably detecting that the warrior had no weakness in combat. She felt a pang of regret at having to fight him. After all, many days ago he had saved her life. He was an honorable, albeit overly confident, warrior, but she learned to respect him. Now, he was an enemy. So be it, it had to be done.

From what she remembered he was the great warrior Achilles. An unstoppable fighting machine with no weakness...save for his heels.

She placed her hands together and chanted, "Aori." In a split second, a storm of divination symbols shot out from the ground and a powerful gust of wind blasted towards the Altered Rider. The shrieking gale of wind appeared to slice apart the ground as it tore it's way towards Altered Rider, uplifting grass and dirt. The black warrior, jumped out of the way, narrowly avoiding it. However, it only confirmed Archer's hypothesis.

The wind magic she unleashed was designed to engulf an opponent in wind and slice apart their body. If it had struck Altered Rider it would have swallowed his body whole...including his famous heels. She jumped towards the black warrior with the speed of a bullet, her lithe body barely making a sound as she shot through the air.

The imposing black warrior lashed out at her, his massive black sword roaring through the young, night air. Archer barely dodged it, sliding underneath the blade and striking at Altered Rider's legs. The Black Warrior screamed out in a panic, his once noble voice now an incomprehensible mess of demonic gibberish.

As expected, Archer's blade failed to hit Altered Rider, avoiding him completely. But now, she was behind him, in a perfect position to strike at his heels. She readied her blade, dropped to the floor and swung it towards the vulnerable area. However, her attack was rebuked, with Altered Rider sidestepping the attempted attack and slamming his shield into Archer's face.

The ninja failed to react in time, the warrior's speed suddenly almost equal to her own. She was thrown into the wall of the house, almost breaking through it completely. The Altered Rider charged towards her, howling through the night like a rabid wolf. His blade lashed out at her head, but she narrowly avoided it by leaping into the air and landing opposite of him.

Suddenly, Assassin, still hopelessly attached to Rider's chain, was thrown into the black warrior. His body slid around the corrupted warrior, missing him completely. Standing next to Archer was her new ally Rider, who withdrew her enormous nails from Assassin's battered body.

"You...damn, bitch!" yelled Assassin, it was the first time that Archer had ever seen him break his cool, "You will pay for this!"

Rider was silent, saying absolutely nothing. The black warrior suddenly darted towards both Rider and Archer, his blade held high and his shield held close to his body. However, something happened that Archer did not expect. Assassin motioned his hand and the Altered Rider stopped dead in his tracks. In a split second, the pair retreated into the night.

"Excellent job you two," said Rin, walking towards them, "However, this is not the time for celebration."

"They know they can catch us off guard here now," spoke up Shinji, his hand on his chin, "It's not safe here."

"For once, I'll have to agree with you."

"Then, where will we go?" asked Hisashi. Assassin and that Altered Rider, although defeated for now were obviously a very deadly pair. The two had appeared to come out of nowhere and their attack was sudden and precise. Although he was a bastard, Hisashi had to give credit where it was due, Assassin certainly deserved his title.

Rin was silent, although she said nothing Hisashi could tell she was flustered. This was truly a terrible situation for them to be in but she remained calm. Hisashi had always admired that about his mother. She was a pillar of confidence, never allowing even the most dire of situations to upset or affect her.

"You should all stay at my house!" squeaked a familiar voice. Hisashi knew who it was, even before he and his family turned to see who it was.

It was Imizviel. The silver haired, red eyed beauty he had seen many days ago. She gave him a warm smile and Hisashi's heart began to flutter in his chest.

"Who are you?" asked Rin.

"I am Imizviel von Einzbern."

"I figured as much," Rin said so with an obvious mistrust in her voice.

Hisashi turned to his mother, "It's fine. I know her."

Rin's eyes flicked to Hisashi, "Do you?" It was a simple question, but the intonation behind it was crystal clear to Hisashi. His mother didn't trust Imizviel at all. Hisashi couldn't really blame her. After all, now that he thought about it, Imizviel was an Einzbern. One of the Master's from before who had tried to kill her.

Hisashi quickly began to doubt his own words. Although he and Imizviel had spent time together before, how could he be sure she was trustworthy? Here she was, it was obvious she was probably a Master in the war. How long has she known about it? However, he didn't know why, but he couldn't help but trust her. She was cheerful, happy and calm, not like the other volatile Masters in the war he's met so far. In a way, besides his own family, she was the most trustworthy person she's met so far.

"We have to trust her, mother," whispered Hisashi.

"And why should we?" Rin snapped at Hisashi, it was so abrupt the he flinched in surprise.

"I agree with the kid," interrupted Shinji, who gave Hisashi a friendly nudge.

"Who gave you a say in this?"

"I believe I have earned it, y'know, after saving your ass! Besides look at your house! It's busted up beyond recognition. Where else are we going to go? Assassin and that Other Rider could come back and then what'll we do? Kindly ask them to leave? I don't think so."

"He is right," spoke up Archer, "Although I share your suspicions Master Rin, I believe it is our only option."

Rin thought to herself for a moment, her eyebrows furrowed in deep thought.

"Very well," she said, turning to face Imizviel, "We accept your offer."


End file.
